Heart Under a Blade
by fineillsignup
Summary: Sitting on a bench after being told by Sasuke-kun that she's annoying, Sakura thinks that it's the worst day of her life. Lying in the hospital wanting to hurl from heat suppressants later that day and grappling with the revelation that she's an omega, Sakura knows that it's the worst day of her life. (ABO, extremely slow build) (cover image by underscoreasta) (mirror from AO3)
1. Chapter 1

The day Sakura turns nine starts out seeming like a really good day. Well, technically it isn't her _actual_ birthday, but it is the last day before spring break, and since her birthday always falls during spring break, her parents let her celebrate it early, knowing that to Sakura, school is basically her entire life.

She wakes up and there is a new outfit on top of her dresser, and when she gets to the table, there is a cup of her favourite flavour of yogurt, _and_ toast with marmalade on the side, _and_ a big glass of orange juice—everything sweet, which is just the way she likes it, instead of okayu and leftovers or an egg like normal days.

"Happy birthday sweetie," says Papa, drinking his tea, and "Happy birthday Sakura dear, now don't spill any of that marmalade on your new dress, and are you sure there isn't anyone you want to invite to your birthday dinner besides Ino-chan?" says Mama.

"Just Ino-chan," Sakura says happily. So she doesn't have that many friends—she has one really _good_ friend, and that's way better than it used to be. "Besides, that means leftover cake!"

And Papa ruffles her hair, and Sakura gathers all her school supplies together, and then her eyes get really wide when she sees that her lunch is in a brand new bento box! Not that there was anything wrong with the _old_ bento box, but it was a bit babyish. The new box is bigger, and while it's still cute, it's… maybe just a little bit cool. It's dark blue, with shiny silver stars and a moon with a little rabbit making mochi on it.

"Here," says Papa, slipping some money into her hand as she's about to leave. "Buy some dango at Amaguriama on the way home."

"Thank you Papa!" she says, darting out before she can hear her mother's protest about having dango _and_ cake on the same day.

Nothing that important happens during class that morning—the last day of the school year is not generally a day when kids pay attention—but all the children cheer when Iruka-sensei announces that the weather is nice enough to eat lunch outside.

Ino and Sakura sit on the grass, and Sakura shows Ino-chan her new bento box and Ino-chan makes all the right noises and exclamations about how great it is. Chouji leans over and mentions that it looks like it can hold more food than her old one, maybe more than Sakura-chan can eat? She is laughing and pulling the tray away from the round Akimichi boy when it happens.

Inuzuka Kiba makes a really strange sound.

It is kind of like a whine, but when humans whine, it's because they're upset or want to be annoying. This isn't upset at all… and it isn't entirely human. It's… kind of canine. A kind of pleading, yearning, happy sound… not really an unpleasant sound, but it isn't a sound anybody had ever heard him make before.

It cuts through all the chatter of the academy yard, everyone falling silent and turning to look at him, and he is looking at Hyuuga Hinata.

Then it all gets very confusing very fast.

Kiba gets up and starts to go towards Hinata, but suddenly that Naruto kid that mama and papa had warned Sakura to stay away from is in between them, and Naruto and Kiba are fighting. And then _more_ boys, including older boys are there and the teachers seem to be trying to break it up and there is a lot of screaming, including from Iruka-sensei, who is holding Hinata in his arms for some reason and yelling at Suzume-sensei to stop just standing there and use the emergency heat suppressant, whatever that meant.

And there is a scent. Such a beautiful sudden fragrance in the air, as if they had all suddenly been transported to a garden in full bloom, if that garden was also hosting an outdoor barbecue. Kind of a weird way to put it, and it didn't do it full justice, but that was the way that Sakura would think about it later. It was delicate and sweet, and mouth-watering and succulent, all at once.

When Suzume-sensei snaps out of it and pulls out a syringe and injects Hinata with it, the smell more or less vanishes, and then Iruka-sensei is off, still carrying Hinata, and gone.

Sakura turns back to the fighting, and while it is still going on, it isn't anything like as fierce as it had been. Some of the oldest boys stop fighting completely and look embarrassed, while the younger ones seem to be more driven on by a need to get that last blow back, more like an ordinary schoolyard fight, not the battle royale it had been before. The teachers are easily able to separate and subdue it now.

The schoolyard starts buzzing with excited chatter of what has just taken place.

Sakura and Ino look at each other.

"Sakura-chan," Ino says hesitantly, and softly enough that only Sakura can hear, "do you feel as weird as I do about… about all of that?"

"Yeah," says Sakura, very quietly. _Shannaro!_ screams Inner Sakura. _Weird?! More like totally and completely crazy! What happened to Hinata-san? Why were the boys acting like… like she was a bone and they were a bunch of dogs!_

They both eat their bentos in silence.

—

Kakashi turns a page of _Icha Icha Violence_ balanced on his knees.

 _Tadao struggled against the ropes on his wrists and ankles for hours, but froze when he heard a low, feminine chuckle. Suddenly, the blindfold and gag were cut away, a cold kunai leaving a faint red line down his handsome face. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he realized he was looking at a very shapely woman, all in orange, her entire face covered in a black mask._

 _"My client offered me a lot of money for that forbidden jutsu, Tadao-sama," the mysterious woman said in a lewd voice. "But maybe you can beat his offer? I'm willing to take another kind of payment instead…"_

He is lounging on the windowsill of the Jounin Standby Station, present but aloof from his comrades, many of whom are buzzing like old women about the poor nine-year-old girl who went into heat at the academy that morning.

"The Hyuuga heir, an omega," Kotetsu is saying excitedly, shaking his head. "Man, I'd give a week's pay to see the look on old Hyuuga-sama's face right now. From what I've heard, he's probably going to have a heart attack and die just so he can roll in his grave."

Asuma, who has been silent up until now, flicks some ash off his cigarette and says casually, "What's disappointing about being an omega?" Kakashi doesn't need to take his eye off his book to know that the lightness of his tone is deceptive.

Kotetsu knows it too and back-pedals immediately. "I'm not saying _I_ think so, but you know how the Hyuugas are."

Asuma grunts and takes another drag on his cigarette.

 _Tadao was about to protest hotly that he belonged only to Junko when he froze at the sensation on his neck. His captor had allowed her sleeve to slip up and as the wrist made contact with the mark on his neck he felt the familiar burning comfort of his bond._

"Is there a reason why you're still here, Kotetsu-san?" says Yamanaka Inoichi. "I told you I don't have a reply for the message."

The chuunin flushes, but bows slightly and leaves.

"Isn't nine very young to begin having a heat though?" says an Akimichi whose name Kakashi can't remember.

Anko stretches. "Am I the only person who thinks it's strange that we're all chatting about the reproductive organs of a child? And you freaks call _Kakashi_ a pervert. Hey, Kakashi, any nine year olds in _Icha Icha?_ "

 _The masked woman raised a finger to where her mouth should be. "Nobody has to know," said the unfamiliar voice wickedly. Had she killed and replaced the kidnapper? Were they being watched? It shouldn't, but the thought of an enemy watching as Junko had her way with him had him hard as diamonds. He offered up some token struggling as she reached for his belt._

Kakashi turns the page. "No."

"There you go," says the snake kunoichi with relish. "Literally too perverted for Jiraiya-sama. Congratulations Konoha! Now we know why he left!"

The copy nin giggles, but his fellow jounin probably assume he's reacting to the illustration on the page he just turned.

The door opens. "Hatake-san, Hokage-sama wants to see you," says the messenger, and unlike Kotetsu, he doesn't stick around.

Kakashi sticks the light novel in his pocket and wanders out, but rather than go into the tower, he strolls very slowly over to the academy grounds.

This evening, the parents of every boy at the academy will be eagerly asking their sons if they reacted to the scent of the heat. Alphas are estimated to make up ten percent of the population and omegas about five percent, but more than half of current Konoha jounins are alphas, whereas there are currently no known omega jounins in Konoha at all. You could call it prejudice; you could say it's because parents of female omegas pull their daughters out of the academy or force them to quit genin when they have their first heat; you could point out that male omegas frequently hide their status, so it's possible that there are more high ranking omegas than are known.

All of that is true, Kakashi thinks, but despite Asuma's heated challenge to the idea that an omega daughter is a disappointment, Kotetsu was right that Hyuuga-sama absolutely would consider it that way. All traditional shinobi felt that way. Not like civilian parents, who generally see an omega daughter as having a good chance of marrying "up", as the saying went. The common opinion is that the greatest ninjas are usually alphas, and that omegas are inherently too weak to last as shinobi—too vulnerable, too emotional, too biddable.

With his keen sense of smell, Kakashi can just barely scent the traces of the girl's heat. It is faint enough that it doesn't arouse him, at least no more than he was already aroused from the smut he was reading a moment ago.

A large class is visible through the window, and of course most of them are looking at him, rather than paying attention to their poor instructor. Iruka shoots him a pleading look, and Kakashi responds with an apologetic eye crinkle and hand wave, but he doesn't increase his speed as he slowly shuffles along. Most of the students are quickly scolded back into facing front regardless. Minato-sensei's son is one of the few who keep staring at him, and Kakashi feels a familiar lump of guilt forming in the pit of his stomach. It makes him passive-aggressively want to take even longer to go see Hokage-sama.

He body flickers to the Memorial Stone in a swirl of leaves.


	2. Chapter 2

Another end of the year, another set of presents on her dresser, but this year they're doubling as graduation presents. A shiny set of kunai, senbon, and shuriken.

Sakura eats only the yogurt out of her birthday breakfast because she doesn't want to get fat. Sasuke-kun likes thin, tall girls with long hair. She can't do anything about her height but she can do her damnedest about the other two qualities.

"I saw Mrs. Yamanaka at the market yesterday with Ino-chan," says her mother, frowning as Sakura dumps her toast onto her father's plate. "I hadn't seen Ino-chan for such a long time. She looks cute with long hair, is that something all the girls in your year are doing? Did you invite Ino-chan for your birthday dinner tonight?"

"Ino-chan is too busy. I don't need a birthday dinner anyway," says Sakura, not wanting to explain that Ino is no longer her best friend, but rather a jealous, conniving _pig,_ chasing Sasuke-kun for herself.

"Maybe you can invite your new genin team for dinner—Sakura?"

Sakura is already almost out the door. _If one of them is Sasuke-kun, then I will, definitely—definitely—definitely! Shannarooooooo!_

A few hours later, Sakura is sitting on a bench, fighting back tears, and thinking that this is the worst day of her life. Her big chance with Sasuke-kun, being on his team, and she's already blown it.

 _Annoying. You're annoying._

His eyes had been filled with contempt, disgust, and hatred.

Being told that by the person you wanted more than anything else hurt like crazy!

All those times she told Naruto that, did he feel like this inside?

 _I should be nicer to him I guess… but he really is annoying!_

 _I guess… I guess I really am annoying too…_

She sighs and starts walking home.

—

When Kakashi follows the Hokage into Naruto's apartment, a rotten smell assaults his sensitive nose. An almost empty milk carton has been left out next to a bowl with cereal remnants in it.

He picks up the carton. "This expired days ago…"

"Naruto isn't that smart, but I think you have the nose for his type."

Kakashi glances at the old man. _Is that supposed to be a joke?_

"Moreover, your team will have the last Uchiha."

The copy nin waits to hear what grand fact there is to know about the third member of the team, but apparently even their name isn't important enough to share. He looks around again. "This apartment is nicer than mine."

"You have a house," points out the Hokage.

"So does Naruto." It's the most direct he's been so far about the fact that Naruto is Minato-sensei's heir.

The Hokage says nothing for a moment. "At the time… it seemed like the safest course… perhaps I was wrong… I've been wrong about many things, Kakashi."

Well, the Hokage hardly has a monopoly on that.

—

Ino is watering the plants in the sidewalk display of Yamanaka Flowers, and Sakura picks up the pace a little to get by fast, but Ino notices her anyway. "Hey, I can see why Sasuke-kun would be sad, being stuck with a whiskered loser and a monster forehead, but what's got _you_ looking uglier than usual?"

Inner Sakura goes on a frenzy, so Sakura is able to calmly and coldly say, "No, Pig, I was just thinking how sad it is that I'm stuck with Sasuke-kun instead of being on a team with two hotties like Shikamaru and Chouji."

Ino throws the watering can at her and Sakura is able to deflect it back into her face, which cheers her up considerably.

"I'm home!" she calls out when she lets herself in, and she's surprised to see her father sitting on the couch.

"Some kind of freak sandstorm thing starting up at the Land of Wind border," her father explains. "Supposed to go on for a week. My trip's been canceled. Would you like to do something fun for your graduation?"

Truthfully all she wants to do is lie on her bed and fill out her new trivia book, but that will definitely disappoint her father, and Sakura never wants to disappoint him. "I need to rest a little from school but maybe we can go out for dinner?"

"Sounds good," he says, with a big beaming smile. "My daughter, the kunoichi!"

She looks out the window of her bedroom and sees her mother pulling weeds, then lies down on the bed and opens up the trivia book.

 _You're annoying, Sakura._

 _Please, Sasuke-kun… I won't be annoying anymore, I'll be whatever you want… I just want to be liked by you, Sasuke-kun. To me, that would be…_

 _That would be…_

She rolls over. Her stomach is feeling strange… actually she's feeling strange all over.

 _Am I sick? I feel like I need something… I need someone…_

Sakura feels hot, cold, shaky, paralyzed, and above everything else, deeply, intensely confused. There's a weird pulsing coming from the pit of her stomach, sending tingling tendrils out to the rest of her body, and wetness like her period has suddenly started from between her legs. She can't stop thinking about Sasuke-kun, but that isn't who she should want if she's sick, is it? This is wrong, something is _wrong…_

She manages to get to the window and call her mother.

—

"Hokage-sama! Everyone! So sorry I'm late!" Kurenai bows, her cheeks almost as red as her eyes.

"Maa, Kurenai-san," drawls Kakashi, "making me look on time, it's unfair, you know? I have a reputation to keep up."

The Hokage gives an amused grunt. "Never mind, Kurenai. He's only already here because I brought him straight from a tour of a student's apartment. I have the new genin team assignments here—" he began passing them out—"and as I anticipate some potential issues between your teams, I wanted to bring you all together to discuss them."

Kakashi looks at his assignment. Time to find out the third student's name.

 _Team 7_

 _Haruno Sakura_

 _Uchiha Sasuke_

 _Uzumaki Naruto_

"Obviously you'll want to read the dossiers in full at a later time," says the Hokage, "but the first issue to discuss is that for the first time in a few years we have an omega female on a genin team. Hyuuga Hinata will be on team 8 with Kurenai. Generally in the past it has been the practice to avoid putting known omega female genins onto teams with suspected or known alpha teammates, but the combination of the Aburame, Inuzuka and Hyuuga kekkei genkai on one team has too much potential to pass up. And fortunately, this year, we have the perfect jounin sensei to guide and model for young Hinata in just how formidable an omega kunoichi can be."

The Hokage smiles at Kurenai, and she blushes but gives a determined smile. "I'm very excited to do it, Hokage-sama!"

"The girl went into heat early and has already shone a tendency to be more prone to spontaneous heats than usual. It's a weakness we have to be aware of and prepared for," the Hokage continued. "Because of this, I would like all the jounin senseis to carry both emergency heat suppressants and scent blockers at all times, not just on missions. Male students should be given their own supply of scent blockers and instruction on how to use them."

Kakashi nods with the rest of the teachers, although he doesn't plan on his team lasting long enough to get to missions.

"Alright. You are dismissed, but I wish to speak a little more to Asuma, Kakashi and Kurenai."

Kakashi lifts up _Icha Icha Paradise_ in time for the book to block Genma's thrown senbon, giving a "nice try" stare in reply to the other jounin's wink as he and the others filter out.

"I will be honest. I do not expect any of the other teams to become genin this year. But the talent in your three teams more than outweighs the lack of it in the rest of their graduating class. So it is likely to be only you three who continue to serve as sensei. Therefore I wish to speak with you in a little more depth. Asuma, since Kakashi is bonded he has a natural resistance, but you are unbonded. I want you to tell me honestly, when was the last time you were exposed to an omega in heat? How difficult was it?"

Asuma is embarrassed, but he answers. "It was a few years ago. I was carrying a scent blocker. She was unconscious. Fortunately when I was moving her body, a heat suppressant syringe fell out." He stares at the hokage's desk. "It was… difficult. Even with the scent blocker. If she hadn't had the heat suppressants easily found, it might have been… more difficult."

Asuma obviously doesn't want to say outright that by "more difficult" he means that he might have raped an unconscious woman.

"I told him afterwards," Kurenai says softly, "that I always keep one in my thigh pouch and one in my flak jacket just to be extra safe. Since that mission, I tell my teammates at the beginning, if they don't already know."

Asuma is still staring at the desk, and he doesn't see the concerned look that Kurenai is aiming at him.

The Hokage is also looking with concern at his son. "Which one did you find, Asuma?"

Asuma doesn't answer right away, but after a few seconds he says, "The one on her thigh."

There is another silence. Asuma is looking almost as guilty as if he really had engaged in a forced bonding with Kurenai.

A messenger interrupts the meeting at this uncomfortable point. "Hokage-sama, a message from the hospital. It involves one of the new genin, so I was told to give it to you now."

—

Sakura lies curled up on her side in the hospital bed, staring at a diagram of the human skeleton hanging on the door. She feels numb, empty, and nauseated. The hot pack against her abdomen isn't hot anymore, but she doesn't push the call button.

Her parents are somewhere else, maybe discussing what to do about her. Her mother said with false cheer that they'd get take-out and bring it back.

 _This really is the worst day of my life._

Tears slide down her face as she remembers her father saying, while her mother was fumbling around in the bathroom cabinets looking for the heat suppressant injection that none of them had ever thought she would need to use, "But she was going to be a kunoichi!"

Was.

She had tried to cheer herself up with the thought that Sasuke-kun, as an alpha, might be more interested in her when he finds out she's an omega.

She was horrified to discover that it didn't make her feel better at all.

For all that she had sworn that she would change anything and everything about herself to gain Sasuke's approval, when actually faced with the idea of gaining Sasuke but losing being a kunoichi, it seemed too great a cost.

Besides… she already _was_ an omega, right? She just hadn't known it. Her personality hasn't changed, and she hasn't suddenly become gorgeous. She still is who she was that morning.

And who she was, to Sasuke-kun, was _annoying_.

Alphas don't have to fall in love with omegas, after all, much less one specific omega. Plenty of alphas are married to betas, or even other alphas. Sasuke-kun isn't the kind to want a weak little civilian omega bride.

Even Inner Sakura is silent.

Someone knocks on the door.

"I'm decent," says Sakura in a monotone.

The woman who enters doesn't look like a nurse. Her forehead protector pulls back dark, wild hair. She has blood red eyes, and her clothing looks like bandages. Despite such a potentially frightening appearance, her expression is gentle and kind. "Hello, Sakura-chan. I'm Kurenai-sensei. I was hoping we could talk, if you're not too tired?"

"Are you—were you going to be my genin sensei?" says Sakura. _She was going to be a kunoichi—was, not is._

"No. I am a jounin sensei, but I'm assigned to another team." Kurenai-sensei rolls a wheeled chair to the hospital bedside and sits down. "I thought you might like someone to talk to who knows what it's like to go through your first heat. I remember very well how frightened and alone I felt, and I would have loved to have someone to explain and encourage me."

Sakura's eyes widen. "You're an omega?"

She nods. "Hokage-sama was informed about your condition while the other jounin senseis and I were meeting with him. I suggested that I come talk to you and he thought it was a good idea. You have an excellent sensei for your team, but I think there will be some lessons that I will be teaching you and Hinata-chan privately."

Hyuuga Hinata had continued at the academy, but she was an important person, from a noble clan, with a dojutsu. Maybe Kurenai-sensei had a kekkei genkai too, something that outweighed being an omega.

"Is there anything you're confused or scared about right now? Maybe I can answer your questions, if the doctors didn't."

"Sensei, I don't understand why it happened now," Sakura whispers. "I've gotten my period twice before…"

"Heat is about ovulation, Sakura-chan. You remember that from the sexual education lecture? Girls don't always ovulate every period, especially when they start to menstruate. Those are called anovulatory cycles, it's quite normal. This was the first time your body was actually going to release an egg. When the bodies of omega and alpha girls prepare to release an egg, they go into heat or rut respectively." She says it all calmly, as if there's nothing embarrassing or shameful about it. "It starts before the release of the egg because semen can survive in a hospitable environment for a few days, but the egg itself only survives about twenty-four hours once it is released."

Sakura looks at the teacher with wide eyes. In just a few sentences, she's explained far more than the entire sex ed lecture series had. (What Sakura remembers being taught from sex ed: don't have sex, and how to put a condom on a banana.)

Kurenai-sensei sighs. "I can see that sex ed at the academy is no better than when I went through it. How terrible. And the doctors didn't explain any of it either? Right. Ok, stop me if you need me to define anything."

Sakura says nothing as Kurenai-sensei explains, professionally and succinctly, the mechanisms of a usual omega heat, how it affects hormones, neurotransmitters, pheromones, and chakra. (Sakura doesn't know what all of it means, but she's too overawed to take up the offer of interrupting.) Then she talks about heat suppression, which is essentially about keeping the body in an anovulatory state. There are several methods of doing this, apparently, including medications and jutsus. However, they all have potential side effects, some of which affect some women more than others, and therefore it might take time to find the right solution for her body.

Emergency heat suppression, which is what she's experiencing now, is a last resort for a reason, due to the usual severity of the side effects. Unfortunately, because no heat suppression works one hundred percent of the time, omegas need to carry and be prepared to use them in case of breakthrough or induced heats.

"We can talk about induced heats later, though," she says. "It's one of the topics I was already preparing to discuss with Hinata-chan."

"It sounds like such a huge weakness," says Sakura. "How can I go on training to be a ninja if I'm like that? I don't have a kekkei genkai to make me worth anything."

Kurenai-sensei gently places a hand on her arm. "Sakura-chan, your worth as a person doesn't have anything to do with being shinobi or civilian, alpha or omega. Your talents, skills, training, weaknesses, connections—yes, in one sense these all matter to your worth as a tool. But not your worth as a _person_. And there is strength in being omega shinobi that you do not know yet. It will be my privilege to teach you and Hinata-chan."


	3. Chapter 3

_"My first impression is… I hate you all."_

Kakashi places the bells back in the small jewelry box, and sets it on the shelf.

Ramen and being Hokage… hatred and grand revenge… and an obsession with one teammate and contempt for the other…

What a combination of dreams.

They had failed the first chance, just as he expected. Worse than any other team had, in fact. At least his previous teams had some concept that working together was a good thing. This team didn't want to work together in the first place.

But when he explained it to them and gave them the rule not to feed Naruto, they disobeyed.

Which meant they passed.

Was it just out of some instinct to be contrary?

He sits down, takes the lid off the take-out container of curry rice and says, "Itadakimasu," in a monotone.

What was the Hokage thinking, putting these three together in the first place, and then making him their sensei? To put the the top student and the bottom student together would often make sense—that was what they had done with him and Obito, after all—

He pauses with a chunk of carrot in his chopsticks.

That can't be his intention? Recreating the weird triangle that was Team Minato?

The carrot drops with a soft plop.

It's sick, really sick, if that's what he's trying to do. Not to mention that if that's the case, it's a twisted version of something that ended in horrific tragedy already the first time. Obito had a power that he couldn't harness, but nothing on the level of a tailed beast. Kakashi was cold and withdrawn from his teammates, but not hateful and contemptuous—whereas the Uchiha's hatred clearly spills over onto all of humanity. And as for Rin—

Rin…

If the Hokage thought for a moment that little pink haired weakling, squealing over one boy and huffing at another, bore _any_ resemblance to Rin…!

Yes, Team Minato had a love triangle, but Rin loved Obito dearly. Rin was kind to everyone. Rin had a crush on Kakashi, but she would never for one moment have blushed and stammered as she bound up her entire identity in wanting to be with him. Even at twelve, she displayed every sign of becoming a competent kunoichi.

Rin may have been an omega, but Sakura… After just one day he can tell that Sakura is an omega _stereotype_ , and nothing more than that.

The only reason she had disobeyed Kakashi was because _Sasuke-kun_ told her to. With any other teammates, she wouldn't have passed.

Well, there is nothing to be done about it now. He has to try to teach them all. The Hokage is right in one thing: the boys have too much potential as ninja not to receive the finest training they can get.

As Kakashi eats the curry, he thinks bitterly that the idea that he in any way resembles or can replace Minato-sensei is the most twisted by far.

—

When Sakura arrives at Kurenai-sensei's apartment, Hinata is standing in the hall, doing that nervous twitchy thing with her index fingers.

"Oh, h-hello Sakura-chan," she says awkwardly. "I just thought… I might be early… so…"

"Uh…" _This girl is so nervous all the time! Isn't this her sensei?_ "I think if we're early… it'll be fine?"

"Y-you're probably right…"

Sakura knocks on the door, and hears Kurenai-sensei's sweet but somehow authoritative voice from the other side. "Just a moment, please."

The door opens and Kurenai-sensei welcomes them in with a smile. Her apartment is very tidy, elegant, and demure, with the exception of a prominent liquor cabinet with a staggering array of spirits within it. The teacher seats them at a table and serves them tea and a dish of umeboshi.

"Do either of you know how to cook?" she starts off casually.

The two girls glance at each other, and Sakura says, "Just easy things… omurice… miso soup… kabocha no nimono… okayu…"

Hinata fidgets nervously. "I-I don't know how to cook at all…"

"Sakura-chan, I will give you some advice I only _wish_ someone had told me when I was a genin: do not let your teammates know you can cook! If you get a reputation for being a good cook, they will make you cook on every mission!" She rolls her eyes. "Trust me, or else you're going to be like me in ten years: gutting fish, while everyone else is playing with the fire pretending like _that's_ actual work, and fantasizing about gutting _them._ "

Sakura laughs, but Hinata says quietly, "I wouldn't mind cooking… I mean, if I could cook… since I… I don't really contribute otherwise…"

"Now, Hinata-chan," Kurenai-sensei says firmly, "what have I told you about undervaluing yourself?"

There is a pause, and Sakura glances at the still fidgeting heiress, wondering if Kurenai-sensei meant for Hinata to respond or not.

"Time to get to the actual subject, don't you think?" says the jounin lightly. She picks up a piece of chalk and turns towards a small chalkboard propped up on some books. "What is an omega like?"

There is an another silence while the two genin wait for Kurenai-sensei to tell them.

"Sakura-chan?"

"Um…" Sakura always knows the answer in class, but she's at a loss here.

"What do people say about omegas? What do you say about omegas in your heart? Give me an adjective."

"Um…" Unable to come up with the right answer, she blurts out the first answer that comes to mind. "Maternal?"

"Excellent," says Kurenai-sensei, writing that down. "What else?"

"Soft," Sakura ventures.

 _Soft_ is written down. "Hinata-chan?"

Hinata freezes mid-fidget, and Sakura thinks she won't possibly be able to answer, but the Hyuuga says, "Passive!" in a surprisingly loud voice, and then flushes.

"Passive, great," says Kurenai-sensei. "Give me more."

Somehow that opens a gate for both of them, and the words come, as fast as Kurenai-sensei can write them down.

"Feminine."

"Nurturing."

"Meek."

"Receptive."

"Submissive."

"Spoiled."

"Beautiful."

"Desired."

"Vulnerable."

"Powerless."

"Weak."

"Weak," echoes Hinata.

Kurenai-sensei writes _weak_ on the board and circles it.

"Weak," says Kurenai-sensei. "That's the crux of it, right? That's the word you keep in your hearts."

The girls stare at the board. Certainly, it has some positive or neutral words on it, but Kurenai-sensei is correct that none seems as important as _weak_.

Kurenai-sensei flips the chalkboard and reveals a blank reverse. "There is something neither of you said. It is the word I keep in my heart, and I hope you'll allow it to replace _weak_ in yours. Let me give you a brief kanji quiz."

She writes 忍び on the board and asks, "Hinata-chan, what is this word?"

"Shinobi."

She erases the hiragana so that only the 忍 remains. "Sakura-chan, the on'yomi reading of this character?"

"Nin."

"And what is the original meaning of it—the meaning from before there were ninja? Do you know?"

This was a question that Sakura could answer. "To endure, to bear with, to restrain oneself, to suffer."

"And with what components is this character constructed?"

"It's a heart under a blade."

"Exactly." Her crimson lips turn up as she circles the kanji. " _That_ is the core of what it means to be a shinobi. And that is why omegas make the best shinobi."

Green eyes and blank eyes widened, and Kurenai-sensei chuckled. "An overreach, but since so many seem to think we can't be shinobi at all, a little exaggeration in return seems called for. It's true that even now omegas rarely get the opportunity to become kunoichi, but you would be surprised how many of the most legendary _male_ shinobi throughout history were secretly omegas… and even more than that, how many omega shinobi never gained fame because they lived the oldest, most fundamental shinobi life: the silent and unnoticed success."

She flips the chalkboard back over and the various adjectives, with _weak_ circled, are before them again.

"Any of these might apply to an omega—and I can concede, even, that many of them are more likely to apply than not—but the secret is… we can turn any of these into a strength. Even this one." She taps on _weak_ with the chalk, then flips the board again and writes the kanji 無為 beneath "shinobi."

"'Mui,' as the sages say. Action without action. The weakness that turns strength against itself and the passivity that endures and exhausts activity. The grass that bows to the hurricane when all the trees break and thus survives."

She sets the chalk down in a slow and deliberate way. "I think that's enough of the philosophical side for today. We will discuss more next time. For right now, let's talk about something pragmatic. What ovulation suppressor are you using, and how is it working? Side effects manageable?"

They end up talking mostly about the pros and cons of using a booster jutsu before a difficult battle, and after another half hour, Sakura walks home slowly, trying to figure out what it all means.

 _You say I can be strong through being weak… but I don't want to be any kind of weak… I really don't want to…_

 _—_

Having a genin team turns out to be… fun.

Doing missions around Konoha—or rather, reading _Icha Icha_ while following his three cute little students around as _they_ do odd jobs around Konoha—is almost like a holiday compared to the string of grueling S and A rank missions he'd been doing prior to this.

His silly side delights in wearing radio headsets to chase down lost cats and doing taijutsu flips as he checks for missed spots on a freshly painted wall.

Tormenting them is too easy but it never stops amusing him. Their reactions to his excuses for being late, spying on them when they discover he's skipped out on the bill, and of course, their attempts to take off his mask… hilarious.

On the very rare occasions that Kakashi wonders if he's taking his pranks a little too far, he justifies it by telling himself that they are unconsciously bonding with each other through the mutual misery of being fooled by him. Not to mention that his own affection for them grows with every outraged shriek and adorable little pout. He wonders if this is what it's like to be a big brother.

He wishes it could go on like this forever, sometimes, but he can't really blame them for demanding a mission out of the village. Ah, well, he could do a C rank mission while sleepwalking, practically. The holiday doesn't have to end quite yet.

"Alright, we'll meet you at the gate in about fifteen minutes Tazuna-san," he says brightly, and holds out some ryo to Sakura. She stares at it as if it might have an exploding tag attached to it. "Here, Sakura. Go buy us four bento at the convenience store and then meet us at the gate."

She accepts the money cautiously, obviously unable to believe that her sensei would ever willingly pay for anything. "Should I send a message to my parents that I'm going on a mission outside the village?"

Oh, right. Weird how he's come to think of being an orphan as the default. "Ehhh… I guess so? I think the mission office notifies next of kin…" He scratches his chin. "But I'm not sure… don't have any myself…"

"Hey, Sakura-chan, get me a cup ramen instead of bento!"

"Four bento," repeats Kakashi. "Extra vegetables in Naruto's."

" _I don't like veggies dattebayo!_ " screams Naruto as Sakura giggles and runs off.

"Now. You two. It's our first mission out of the village, so you need to carry these." He pulls out a pouch, shakes out two capsules, and tosses one to each boy. Sasuke catches his, while the other one hits Naruto in the nose, but he does then catch it.

"Is this a snack?" says Naruto, getting it dangerously close to his tongue.

"Dobe! It's a scent blocker," growls Sasuke. "I know how they work already. See you at the gate."

The Uchiha is gone within seconds, and Kakashi sighs. "As Sasuke said, Naruto, it's a scent blocker. Pretty simple. Hold it in front of your mouth, twist, break, and breathe in through your nose."

Naruto cocks his head in a vaguely animal manner. "So… for when something stinks or…"

"No, it's for a heat."

"Like… hot days…?"

 _How is it possible for Minato-sensei's son to be this stupid? Kushina-san was never like this…_ "Naruto. Do you know about omegas going into heats?"

The jinchuuriki suddenly gets an absurdly red face for a kid who has been doing a Sexy no Jutsu for years. "Sensei! You can't talk about stuff like that 'ttebayo!"

"As your teacher I _have_ to talk about it." _Because I sure as fuck don't want to either, kid._ "You're an alpha, you have an omega teammate, you need to have her back for this. That's a part of teamwork. If Sakura-chan—or anyone else—goes into a heat around you, the scent blocker will help you keep control. Got it?"

Naruto hangs his head and says nothing.

"Do you understand, Naruto? This is actually important."

"Sensei… are you sure that I'm an alpha?"

"Absolutely positive. Why?"

The boy scuffs his toe in the dirt. "Well… I thought omegas are supposed to like alphas… Sakura-chan likes Sasuke so much…"

Aha. "Being an omega doesn't mean you'll automatically like every alpha. Trust me."

"But Sakura-chan doesn't just not like me," Naruto mutters. "She _hates_ me…"

Kakashi ruffles the boy's hair. "I don't think Sakura hates you anymore, Naruto. Anyway, c'mon, let's get to the gate."

—

 _I climbed the tree perfectly the first time… and for a moment I felt so great… perfect chakra control!.. but only Naruto cared._

 _Kakashi-sensei just used my success to humiliate the other two… and probably made Sasuke-kun hate me even more… and now I'm stuck sitting on the bridge with Tazuna all day instead of training…_

Sakura is jolted out of her thoughts when both boys ask for more food, and then turn away from the table and vomit on the floor at the same time.

Inner Sakura is of one mind with her outer self in reaction to this. "You can't eat more if you're just going to barf!" she screams.

The boys and even Kakashi-sensei hardly seem bothered by this at all. _Ugh. So men never stop being gross?_

 _—_

As soon as Kakashi makes it back to his apartment from the Land of Waves, he rips off his mask and forehead protector on the way to the bathroom, where he splashes water on his face.

Before this mission, he'd had dark thoughts that the Hokage might have intentionally selected the members of Team 7 to remind him of Team Minato. He'd relaxed about this as they plodded through their D rank missions, getting to know his genins for who _they_ were, not as revamps of Obito, Rin and himself.

Those dark thoughts are back, but now instead of blaming the Sandaime, he wonders if it might not be the universe finally running him down for his sins instead.

Being overwhelmed by Kiri-nin… his fist thrusting through the chest of a young innocent instead of his intended target… the parallel was too perfect.

It's hard to believe he kept it together until they got back to Konoha.

He splashes water on his face again, but it's not calming him down. He pulls off his clothes impatiently, leaving them on the floor of the bathroom in uncharacteristic sloppiness, and gets in the shower.

Kakashi rests his head against the tile while the hot water beats down on his body, then snarls and begins scrubbing himself down viciously. The soap swirls at the bottom of the drain like the tomoe of Obito's sharingan.

Such a priceless gift, with only one favour asked in return: protect Rin.

 _Rin…_

If he thought he could not be more disgusted with himself, he is proven wrong by his body's reaction when he pictures her laughing.

"Shit," he tells off his erection. "Are you kidding me? Now?"

He turns the tap to cold.

—

"How was your first mission, dear?"

 _We almost died several times._

 _I saw a boy my age have his chest torn apart by electricity. We buried him with his… whatever Zabuza was to him…_

 _Also, Sasuke-kun still doesn't like me._

 _I'm really pathetic…_

"Fine," Sakura says. "Do we have any yogurt?"


	4. Chapter 4

Sakura makes her own breakfast before dawn. Well, "makes" might be a bit of an overstatement: she grabs a pre-made onigiri and a canned tea drink out of the fridge and wolfs both down in a few minutes. Ordinarily she would eat something a bit more substantial, but she overslept today, and they were told to meet at the bridge at 5am.

When Kakashi-sensei is late _again_ , she's so tired, hungry, and furious that Inner Sakura is able to take over, breaking out into a big screaming tantrum. "How can such an inconsiderate person be a teacher? _How can he get away with this?!_ ** _Why does he tell us a time to meet if that's not the time he intends to be here?!_** "

Naruto fist pumps. "Yeah yeah yeah! Sakura-chan is right!"

"Did he even _consider_ the delicate feelings of a young girl who _didn't even have time to blow dry her hair?!_ "

"Yeah!" shouts Naruto. "I overslept too and I didn't brush my teeth or wash my face!"

This snaps Sakura out of Inner Sakura mode. "That's… so gross…"

Naruto forces a laugh as his face reddens and he scratches the back of his head.

"Good morning!" They look up to see their sensei squatting on a pipe and giving them a cheery wave. "I got lost on the road of life."

Naruto and Sakura screech at him while Sasuke remains slumped and grumpy against the railing, until Kakashi-sensei interrupts them like they hadn't even been talking at all. "Well, anyway, it's sudden, but I've decided to nominate you three for the chuunin exams." He has to pause to wiggle out of Naruto's enthusiastic tackle-embrace. "Of course this is just a nomination. It's up to each of you individually to decide whether to take the exams. Those who wish to try must have their completed forms into room 301 by tomorrow at 4pm. That's all."

Without any actual advice as to what they should choose, he body flickers away.

 _So… how do I decide to take this or not?_

 _Those Sand guys were really scary… and who am I kidding, I can't even compete with Naruto, let alone Sasuke-kun._

 _But… I guess Kakashi-sensei wouldn't nominate me if he thought I couldn't do it, right?_

—

Kakashi is holding _Icha Icha Paradise_ in the Jounin Waiting Station, but although his eye is staring at the pages, his awareness is completely on one of the screens, peripherally watching his students making their way to room 301. They're cutting it close.

He was pleasantly surprised that Sakura actually showed up. She's grown a lot over the past year, but part of that growth has been a realization of just how far the boys exceed her. He's glad she decided to go for it, even though she doesn't have a chance in hell of actually making chuunin. The boys really deserve the chance to contend, and protecting her will be good practice for them.

Currently the Uchiha and Hyuuga prodigies are staring each other down—if they were birds, they'd be shaking brightly coloured feathers and shrieking—while the kyuubi container not-so-subtly rages at the lack of attention.

"Ha, looks like even your teams are eternal rivals," laughs Asuma, slouching back in the couch with an arm casually slung across where Kurenai's back would be if she weren't sitting on the edge of the couch, all her focus on the tiny likenesses of her own team, even though they aren't doing anything other than waiting in 301 at this point.

"Indeed! It warms the soul to see such Passion in the youth of the Leaf!" Guy says as he switches from a ridiculous number of jumping lunges to one-armed push-ups. "Despite his appearance, my Eternal Rival has surely been an example of Manly Vigour to them!"

 _Despite my appearance…?_

"Hey Kurenai," the Copy Nin drawls in an attempt to get the topic off of himself, "wouldn't you be more comfortable sitting back on the couch?"

Kurenai looks over her shoulder towards him, confused as to why Kakashi would care either way, and her eyes widen as she sees that Asuma's arm is there. Now he's got them in a trap—whether Kurenai moves back into Asuma's arm, or Asuma removes his arm, or Kurenai refuses to move back, any reaction will allow Kakashi to further needle them.

"Actually I should use the restroom before the actual exam begins," she says hastily, and body flickers away. Not a bad choice, really. It gets her out of range, although it means that Kakashi will amuse himself at Asuma's expense instead.

"Cockblocked by a toilet," says Kakashi mournfully, and turns the page.

Asuma blows out a mouthful of smoke, not outwardly taking the bait. He gestures to one of the screens, where a battle appears imminent between the mini-Guy and Sasuke. "Going to do anything about that?"

"No," says Kakashi, and turns a page for appearance's sake.

"Guy?"

"Yoshi! As soon as I have finished my reps!"

"How many more do you have to do?"

"Only seven hundred thirty six!"

Kakashi may look impassive but he is keenly interested in the match-up. A pure taijutsu specialist nowadays…

Sakura points out the time is getting late—good to know at least one of his genins has some common sense—but Naruto launches himself at the mini-Guy and is quickly eliminated.

"Where do you get those suits anyway Guy?" Asuma flicks away some ash.

"Custom made! Unique fit for a unique body!" Guy throws a thumbs up with his free hand.

The fight begins between the mini-Guy and Sasuke, and it's basically a spanking. Kakashi represses a grin. Good. The Sharingan, even the Mangekyou, is not unbeatable. If Sasuke can come to appreciate this, it may help to ease him off his obsession with…

Kakashi suddenly actually turns his head to the screen. "Guy!"

"Under control!" says Guy cheerfully, still doing push-ups. Kakashi spares him an incredulous glance before beginning to make the transportation hand signs. Does Guy not see that—

Ningame, Guy's turtle summon, suddenly appears and scolds the mini-Guy out of performing the Front Lotus.

"Your concern for your precious youth does you credit, my rival! Alas, that my student's passion exceeded his restraint in this instance! Be assured that I shall see that he apologizes to your students," Guy says, "just as soon as I finish these last thirty one reps."

Kakashi sighs, stows _Icha Icha_ away with a bit more force than necessary, and strolls out to meet his students at the entrance to 301.

Feigning nonchalant ignorance of their activities up until now, he opens with a lazy, "Oh, so Sakura came too. You can take the exam then."

Sakura's mouth gapes. "What do you mean?"

"Well, this test can only be taken by groups of three."

"But you said we had to decide individually! You lied to us?"

 _Actually, Sakura, I lied to_ you _. I didn't want a repeat of you passing the bell test just because Sasuke told you to._ Feeling genuine pride, without mentioning the bell test, he explains his reasoning with his happiest eye-smile. "You came of your own free will. You guys are my proud team. So go!"

He keeps the smile in place as they walk through the door. This part, at least, will not kill them. Psychologically maim them, maybe…

—

Sakura finishes the test faster than she really wanted to. Now she has nothing to do but wait and obsess over things she'd really rather not remember at all.

 _"Oh, so Sakura came too."_

 _Bowl me over with your confidence in me, Kakashi-sensei,_ rages Inner Sakura.

And then there was the memory of the leotarded, caterpillar-browed, saucer-eyed Lee blowing a kiss that somehow coalesced into an actual and literal floating heart that she had only just managed to duck…

 _Shannaro! Do I have some kind of freaky weirdo attracting beacon implanted that I don't know about?!_

She wishes she had something else to think about, but soon realizes that was a stupid thing to wish, because Morino-san's pre-tenth question choice does just that.

To quit and also sabotage Naruto and Sasuke-kun… or to risk being an eternal genin.

Unexpectedly, though, her agony is not for herself or for Sasuke-kun. It's for Naruto.

She is sure she can answer the question, whatever it is, and even if she doesn't, well… who knows if she'd ever make it beyond genin anyway…

As for Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun of course will _never_ fail.

But Naruto… if Naruto has to give up _his_ dream…

 _He's not like me… it would kill him…_

Sweat beads on her face as she looks at his trembling back.

 _He won't give up, will he? I can't stand to see it crushed… Hokage, Hokage… that silly dream… it would be too cruel… so…_

She begins to lift her hand and then is stunned to see his shoot up.

"Don't underestimate me!"

—

 _"You knew! You knew what it would be like! You knew she wasn't ready!"_

 _Naruto's fists, blindly hitting him over and over, but he doesn't even try to block._

 _Sasuke stands there silently, Sakura's mutilated corpse in his arms._

 _"Why? Why didn't you warn us?! Stop us?! Didn't you care? What about teamwork? How could it be teamwork to let us get her killed! Oh hell… killed… she's dead… Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan!"_

 _With a final pathetic blow, Naruto crumbles to his knees, sobbing._

 _Sasuke still says nothing, but when Kakashi looks him in the eyes, he sees the swirling tomoe of the Mangekyou, swallowing up everything._

No matter how he tosses and turns, Kakashi can't get back to sleep that night.

—

After scaring off the squirrel from triggering the trap, Sakura crouches by the unconscious forms of her teammates, forcing her mind off of her worry for them and onto the decision: do the booster jutsu or not?

Alone and needing to protect them, getting overwhelmed is a question of when, not if. So. Should she do the booster jutsu to help prevent an induced heat in the near certain event that she's critically injured, at the cost of possibly distracting her with the side effects and making said injury happen earlier or be fatal?

On the other side, in addition to avoiding the side effects if she didn't perform the jutsu… if it came to the worst… maybe… maybe if she went into heat it might save her life… because that is what induced heat is _for…_ if an omega is in crisis, to inspire an alpha to spare or protect her…

She shudders. No, absolutely _no way_. She would much rather _die_ than end up bound for life and _pregnant_ by some of the monsters in this exam, not to mention _how you get pregnant_. Sakura quickly forms the seals and winces at the sharp pain in her abdomen that indicates that the jutsu is taking effect.

Plus, she can't pin any hope on being beaten to the point of hormonally forcing some stranger to rescue her. What kind of kunoichi would do that?

It's time for her to stop making excuses and protect her precious people. Pain and nausea won't distract her because she won't _let_ it.

"Hehe… those hand seals, oh my… Konoha actually sent a lamb like you out to play with us wolves? How sweet of them, Omega-chan…"

She jerks around. It's the three Sound nin. The creepiest one, the one that attacked Kabuto-san before the written test, continues, "But I think we'll have you as a second course… in the meantime, please wake up Sasuke-kun? We want to fight him."

Lee-san comes to the rescue, and though she abhors the weakness she begins to cry yet again, overwhelmed with relief. "Thank you. You saved me!"

"It's like I said… I will protect you until I die!" Her heart swells with admiration, though he rather spoils the dramatic effect of these words by saying aloud, "Yes! I'm so awesome, Guy-sensei!"

 _Ok… so having a freaky weirdo attracting beacon might not be so bad, if they're all like Lee-san and Naruto…_

When Lee is defeated, Sakura attempts to fight, but within moments she's grabbed by her hair by the female Sound nin.

"Awwww, Omega-chan," the girl taunts, "I see you're more interested in treating your hair than in training, huh? Probably for the best, your hair is certainly better than your ninja skills… why'd you bother playing at being a kunoichi at all? Thought you'd bag a cute alpha this way?" She laughs. "Zaku, let's teach Omega-chan a lesson and kill her dear Sasuke-kun in front of her eyes!"

 _No! I can't… I can't allow that! I'm always being protected, but this time… this time I_ ** _have_ **_to protect the ones who are precious to me!_

"Hehe, sounds good." The enemy begins to walk towards her unconscious comrades.

Sakura forces her frozen body to move, to pull out a kunai.

"Idiot girl! That won't work against me."

The omega forces a grin that she's a long way from feeling inside. "What are you talking about?"

The kunai slashes through the long pink hair.

She fights back with everything she has.

 _You've all protected me and I've watched your backs…_ _someday you'll all be watching my back! And right here and now I'll protect you all!_

She sinks her teeth into the arm of a Sound nin, more like a desperate child's attack than a skilled warrior's.

 _Even if this is all I have! With whatever I have left! Because that's my ninja way!_

At this bleak nadir, Team 10 appears.

 _Hah!_ crows Inner Sakura. _Seriously this is like a kekkei genkai! Freaky Weirdo Attraction Rescue Beacon no Jutsu!_

 _Oh, shut up,_ Sakura hisses at herself.

When the rest of Team Guy shows up, Sakura grits her teeth as her Inner dances around the recesses of her mind chanting, _Told you, told you, told you!_

But then Sasuke-kun wakes up, and his first words are, "Sakura… who did that to you?"

"Sasuke-kun?!" Sakura cannot believe it. He's awake… he's awake and he's expressing concern for _her…_

"Who was it?" he repeats, his voice dark and dangerous. The entire left side of his body is covered with the black mottling now, and his Sharingan is swirling.

She falters. "Sasuke-kun… your body is…"

"Don't worry. This power flowing within me… I feel great. I finally get it now, what he gave to me. I am an avenger. Even if I have to sell my soul to do it… I am on a path where I _must_ gain power." He turns from her to the Sound nin. "Now… it was you guys, right?"

The markings keep spreading, disfiguring his beautiful face.

The person who brutally defeats the Sound nin, snapping his arms, is not Sasuke-kun. At least, not totally.

The tears pool in her eyes again. Orochimaru.

 _With whatever I have left…_

 _What do I have left…_

She runs and embraces him with a screaming plea to stop.

—

Kakashi stands between Asuma and Guy with his hands in his pockets, outwardly totally relaxed, but inwardly his keen mind is whirling about the problem of Orochimaru.

There are cameras within the Forest of Death, but not enough to monitor all of it, and they are frequently destroyed even by the wildlife. There are too many gaps to get a clear picture of all of Orochimaru's actions and their ripples, which means conjecturing, deducing, theorizing, making models in his head and testing the models against each other.

And then there's the immediate concern of Sasuke's seal—

Guy is blathering about something and Kakashi realizes that he's actually being addressed. "Hn? Did you say something?"

Instead of repeating himself, Guy clenches his fists and turns away.

 _Huh. Strange. Oh well._

Though he doesn't even admit it to himself, Kakashi was enormously relieved to see Sakura alive and not seriously injured, despite the eye-catching difference in her hair. That particular loss must have gone down uncaptured by cameras, unfortunately.

He does know that she spent a significant portion of the ordeal with both her teammates unconscious, a scenario that he had inexcusably failed to consider when he had blithely considered protecting her as a good character building experience for the boys. He had fucked up again, and for once the universe actually didn't make an innocent suffer for it.

He doesn't know how exactly she made it this far, but he is willing to admit to himself that he has underestimated her.

She has changed… but as she cries, begs, pleads, and even threatens to tattle to get Sasuke to drop out of the exams, it's clear her immature obsession with the Uchiha hasn't modified one iota.

Sasuke is markedly less cold in his response to her and Naruto than he once was, but it is not a reassuring change when the Uchiha has also doubled down on his insistence on vengeance before all.

Especially considering how the Uchiha obtain the Mangekyou.


	5. Chapter 5

Good job," says Kakashi, poofing into existence behind Sasuke's shoulder after he defeats Yoroi. _Icha Icha Paradise_ is held open in his hands, though he hasn't been and isn't reading it. Rather, it's a buffer between Sasuke and the praise, making it seem less intimate and thus easier for the proud boy to accept.

It seems to work, because Sasuke gets that half a millimetre lift at the corner of his mouth which for him serves as a wide grin.

"Hahaha, Sasuke! Teme, what a stupid way to win! You're totally beaten up dattebayo!"

Sasuke's mouth goes up another half a millimetre as he looks up at Naruto. "You're a complete moron."

 _After seeing Lee's move only once, to not only copy it perfectly, but under such pressure, to combine it with an innovative finishing move… that is the terrifying power of the Uchiha bloodline._

 _And that is what Orochimaru is after._

 _And though I can seal it… it will mean nothing unless Sasuke keeps the will to defy him._

 _So how do I give him that?_

—

After that puppet-using Sand shinobi destroys the bendy Leaf genin, Naruto folds his arms in a huff. "Sheesh! Everyone here is such a freak!"

Kakashi-sensei tilts his head. "Takes one to know one."

"Nice one!" Sakura laughs, and Naruto purses up his lips, making him look even funnier.

Kakashi-sensei places a gloved hand on her shoulder, and she's jolted when she turns her head and his face is right there. "This isn't a time for laughing, Sakura. Look."

 _Haruno Sakura VS Yamanaka Ino_

Making her way down, Sakura thinks back to how Ino fussed with her newly short hair in the Forest of Death.

It was so mundane, so vain, so rudely sweet.

It was just like Ino.

Ino, giving her a ribbon and telling her to have confidence in her worst feature. Ino, saying that Sakura was a bud that could grow into a gorgeous flower.

Ino, who was after Sasuke-kun's love…

This fight will only mean something if they're both focused on it, not on their past friendship, not on Sasuke-kun's affections. She needs to make that crystal clear.

"Right now, this isn't about Sasuke-kun," Sakura says with determination.

Ino's eyes narrow. "What do you mean?"

Sakura tries to make her tone as contemptuous as possible. "Well, it's not like you would have ever had a chance with Sasuke-kun anyway, and I'm much stronger than you. I don't have to worry about you at all, really."

"Do you know who you're talking to, Sakura? Don't get too confident, cry baby!"

Their fight begins trading blows with more or less basic academy taijutsu and ninjutsu, and it's quickly apparent how evenly they are matched.

In order for there to be a winner, it will come down to something that one has and the other doesn't.

 _—_

When Sakura's opponent came up as Ino, Kakashi felt an enormous sense of relief.

Although he doesn't expect Ino to hold back, there's a difference between not holding back and the kind of competitor who seeks only the kill, and there's certainly enough of those here.

Despite her growth, he still doesn't think Sakura has what it means to be a chuunin… yet. The _yet_ addition to the sentence is new. So a clean knock out is probably the best possible outcome.

Yet he can't help feeling a tinge of disappointment as Sakura begins to raise her hand to forfeit under Ino's mind control.

Naruto shouts at Sakura not to quit as if his teammate is still there, and Kakashi gives a short sigh. _I literally just explained that Sakura is not in control of her body right now. Naruto, why is it you never accept that sometimes, you cannot—_

Ino-Sakura clutches her head and screams.

Hayate coughs. "You want to forfeit?"

Ino-Sakura's head snaps up. "Forfeit?! Hell no I'm not gonna forfeit!" She shudders, her body twists and drops to its knees. Her hands come up to her temples again as another scream echoes against the walls.

Kakashi glances around. All the other Leaf ninja, familiar with the might of the Yamanaka clan's signature jutsu, are watching in stunned silence. This is not a jutsu that just anyone can throw off, even if the caster is low on chakra and an ally attempts to rally the victim.

Sakura has a refusal to lose that rivals Naruto's, apparently.

"Kai!" shrieks Ino-Sakura, and Sakura has successfully repulsed her mental invader.

"What the hell was that other you in there? What kind of freak are you?" sputters Ino.

 _Other Sakura? Interesting…_

"What you should know about me, Ino, is that I am a woman who _endures."_

As Kakashi lays Sakura's unconscious body next to Ino's, for the first time since the nightmare he feels like he made the right decision entering Team 7 in the exam.

—

While Sakura cheers more or less without reservation for Naruto during his fight against Kiba—with a brief interlude to be silent with shock and repulsion when Naruto farts in Kiba's face—she can't help noticing that Hinata-san, who in her own timid and modest way had encouraged Shino during his fight, does nothing of the kind for Kiba.

Instead she cringes when either one is badly hit, as if they are both her teammates…

..and when Naruto wins, her mouth turns up at the corners just the tiniest bit…

If she were standing by herself, it may not have been noticeable at all, but standing directly next to Kurenai-sensei's whole-hearted frown, it's a night and day difference.

Does Hinata-san like _Naruto?!_

It would appear she _does_ , because as Naruto comes back up the stairs, she stutters and blushes and trembles through an offer of medicinal cream to him, never once meeting his eyes.

She looks so adorably pleased when Naruto cheerfully tells her that she's nice that Sakura wants to run over and pat her on the head.

The board announces HYUUGA HINATA vs HYUUGA NEJI. Well, alright then. He was her cousin, right? At least he won't try to murder her in the first five seconds like some of the others who are left.

"Before we begin the fight, Hinata-sama, I need to tell you… you will never be a good shinobi. You should forfeit."

Inner Sakura, flush with her success against Ino-Pig, scents blood and forces her way to the front of Sakura's consciousness.

Neji continues. "You are kind, harmony-seeking, conflict-averse, docile, passive…"

Sakura remembers the way that Hinata-san exclaimed "Passive!" to Kurenai-sensei, and her grip on the iron railing tightens.

"…completely lacking in self-confidence. You know your own inferiority. I'm sure you wished to remain a genin as well, but since the chuunin exam could only be taken in teams of three, you didn't want to let your teammates down, but at this point—"

"N-no, it was… it was for myself… to change myself…" Hinata-san turned her head to the side, her arms crossing over her breasts, which even in her shapeless choice of outfit are clearly on the large side for a 13-year-old. Covering, hiding, shielding, seeking to disappear. Desperate not to be seen.

"Hinata-sama. You really are the spoiled brat of the main house." Hinata-san's head jerks up, startled, and actually meets Neji's gaze. "People can't change themselves. Those who are born a loser, like you, will always remain a loser. That I am an alpha and you are an omega cannot be changed—"

Inner Sakura has heard enough, and smacks a fist against the iron railing with a loud clang that causes all eyes to go to her. "Oh, you _scumbag!_ I hope you beat the _shit_ out of him, Hinata-san!"

Sakura claps her hands over her mouth a moment after the last word escapes her lips, horrified at her own crude outburst, but she can hear Kakashi-sensei giggle softly behind her. "Nicely put, Sakura-chan," he says sweetly, and leans over to tap the bend in the railing. "Also, I'm glad to see the taijutsu training is paying off."

"Sakura-chan is right! Stop acting like you know everything about people, moron! Kick that bastard's ass, Hinata!"

Neji looks severely pissed off that someone had had the temerity to stop his Reason Why You Suck speech in its tracks, and Hinata looks like she's about to cry with happiness. "N-naruto-kun…"

 _Oh wow has she got it bad for him! How did I never notice this before now?_

"Stand up for yourself, Hinata! You can do it!" continues Naruto, waving his arms like crazy.

Sakura laughs. "Go Hinata go!"

"Alright, so you're not going to forfeit," snaps Neji. "What happens from here is your own fault."

Sakura, still laughing, happens to look towards Neji's teacher Guy-sensei, and the expression on his face makes the laughter die on her lips. She suddenly becomes afraid that she has rashly encouraged Hinata to lay her neck on a chopping block.

 _—_

Kakashi has heard Kurenai's pet theory about omegas having a special ability to endure many times, of course, but to be honest he hasn't paid much attention to it. Watching the Hyuuga heiress, who should be unconscious, struggle to her feet, he thinks he may need to consider it more carefully.

"It isn't over," she rasps.

'It's useless to act tough. You can hardly stand. An accident of birth forced responsibilities of heiress on you that you were totally incompetent to meet, and because of this you have always hated yourself for your _weakness_ ," the branch prodigy spits out. "People cannot change. This is fate. Accept it and there's no need to suffer anymore."

"That isn't true," says Hinata, speaking only with effort. "Because I have seen it… Neji-nii-san, the one who is lost and suffering under the weight of the expectations of the main house is _you_ —"

Before the last word has fully formed on her lips, her cousin is charging at her to kill her.

Kakashi instantly reacts to stop him, and as the smoke settles, it's apparently that not only Hayate, but also Guy and Kurenai have jumped into the fray. A bit overkill—really any one of them could have stopped him—but indicative of just how menacing the boy's killing intent was.

 _Asuma, you idiot, Kurenai is going to give you the cold shoulder for weeks for not jumping to the defence of her student. Her team are like her children._

Hinata collapses to the floor, and Kurenai rushes to her side. Naruto, Sakura and Lee jump down as well.

"Hey, you two losers," says Neji to Sakura and Naruto. "If you're going to be shinobi, cut out the pathetic cheerleading. Just as I said, a loser is a loser. They can't change."

"Where the hell is the medical team?!" yells Kurenai as blood erupts from Hinata's mouth.

 _—_

Hokage-sama announces a month-long break for those who are continuing on in the exams to rest, recover, and train.

Sakura spends basically the whole month without seeing Sasuke-kun or Kakashi-sensei. Naruto she glimpses occasionally with a strange looking older man, who for some reason Naruto seems determined not to let her meet… it's extra weird because there was at least one time when it seemed from their body language that the man was asking to be taken over and introduced to _her_ , but Naruto suddenly performed a Sexy no Jutsu so she ran away in disgust.

It's understandable, since the boys are going on to the finals and she isn't, but it still leaves her feeling a bit lost and disoriented. For the past year, the three of them have been a constant presence in her life.

She even starts to miss the colour orange a little bit.

In the first week, she tried to train alone a few times, but ended up getting discouraged to the point of angry tears. She had no idea if what she was doing was any good and no idea of how to improve.

By the end of the week, she developed a routine:

Wake up, basic fitness routine, shower. Eat breakfast. Hit Yamanaka Flowers, insult Ino-Pig, buy a daffodil. Go to hospital for morning visiting hours, give Lee-san his daffodil, attempt to brighten his day without leading him on (v. difficult—tell self that this is kunoichi negotiation training). Meet Ino-Pig for lunch (mutually avoiding pointing out the caloric content of their mood-soothing meals), buy another daffodil after they walk back to Yamanaka Flowers together. Visit hospital for afternoon visiting hours, give Hinata her daffodil, attempt to brighten her day without getting depressed about Sakura's own failure (even more difficult). Go home, tell her mother she's going to her room to study. Go into room, lie on bed, try not to cry. Cry a _lot._ Eat dinner with family. Chores. Sleep.

It's a fairly pathetic existence.

Kurenai-sensei gives a weekly lesson in the hospital to Hinata and Sakura (now Hinata-chan and Sakura-chan to each other, because you can't visit a girl in the hospital nearly every day and not call each other -chan, as Sakura explains to coax Hinata). The teacher tells them not to take failing the exam too hard, that she herself was a genin for four years before even attempting the exam, and that both of them out-performed many other genins just by making it to the third stage.

When Sakura questions why Kurenai-sensei has the time to spend on someone other than Shino, Kurenai-sensei seems surprised. Of course she would find the time for all her students, she says, and besides, Shino spends Monday afternoons learning clan techniques from his elders.

It must be amazing to come from a clan like that. To have people around you to encourage you and correct you all the time. She wouldn't have to be floundering like this if she had that.

On the other hand, Hinata-chan is living proof that clan expectations have a cost. Hiashi-sama apparently hasn't bothered training her in the clan jutsu for years.

When the month is almost over, there is an unexpected disruption in this routine.

She makes her usual morning visit to Yamanaka Flowers, but the sign in the window has been flipped over to CLOSED.

Sakura stares at it, flummoxed, then slowly makes her way to the hospital. Her hands feel weirdly empty without a flower. She travels the familiar path towards Lee's room.

"Hey, Forehead."

Ino's tired voice comes from the room she's just passed by. Sakura stops, backtracks, and enters the open door. Ino is sitting on the hospital bed with her knees up to her chest. "I thought I saw your stupid face out the window earlier. Going to visit Lee, right? Sorry about not being able to sell you your daffodil. Feel free to help yourself to an azalea." She gestures to the bouquet on her nightstand.

"What's going on? Are you alright?"

Ino laughs. "Oh, me? Well, you should know, right. Emergency ovulation suppression really does suck."

" _You're_ an omega too?!"

"Ha! No. I'm an alpha, apparently. Can't wait to tell Asuma-sensei that my bossiness is innate. Oh yeah, Sasuke-kun is all yours now, by the way."

Sakura is torn. Part of her wants to do a victory dance— _Yes! Sasuke-kun is MINE!—_ but another part doesn't want her rival to drop out _this_ way. With a stern warning to her Inner to be quiet, she swallows and says, "Just because you're an alpha doesn't mean—"

"Oh, it isn't because of that. I'm interested in someone else." She gets that mischievous look that takes Sakura back to the days where they really were the closest of friends. That look which meant that Ino had some juicy piece of gossip that just needed a little bit of persuasion to spill out.

Sakura sits down on the end of the bed and doesn't have to fake her intense interest. "Who?!"

Ino leans forward and whispers conspiratorially, "Shikamaru."

"Shikamaru?!" Sakura sputters. "But…"

Ino laughs and waves it off. "Yeah, I know, but believe me, it's not just the rut talking. I mean, those feelings opened my eyes, but the more I've thought about it the more sure I am. He's… well… I can't explain it really, but I can see who he is and who he's going to be now, and I want him to be with me. That's it really." She looks almost shy as she says this.

"Wow," says Sakura. "Really… wow! Well, uh… I'm happy for you!"

"Thanks. Oh, and keep it locked up behind that enormous forehead of yours, ok? The Nara clan don't want it getting out that he's an omega." Ino rolls her eyes. "Must be nice, having the option to keep that a secret. Freaking men have all the luck in the world."

"Yeah, it's so unfair. But my lips are sealed."

"Hey, after you visit Lee, maybe you could grab a bento and come back and have lunch with me? As long as you don't mind that my mom will probably be here." She makes a face. "I'd really like it if you could. If you're here my mom will cut the lectures for five minutes."

"Sure, I can do that," says Sakura, wondering why Ino's mom would be lecturing her. "You're ok if I go now?"

"Oh yeah, I can just sit here and enjoy the fascinating view of absolutely nothing out this window," jokes Ino, gesturing to it, just in time for an enormous creature to whiz by.

Both girls immediately rush to the window, nearly bonking heads in their haste, in time to see the small unconscious figure of Naruto deposited on the hospital front steps and the most enormous frog they've ever seen vanish in a swirl of smoke.


	6. Chapter 6

Ino stretches grouchily as she trails behind Sakura on their way to the arena. "I don't know why I'm even here."

"To cheer on Shikamaru, of course."

"Hmph. Don't feel like it."

"Eh?! Don't tell me you're back after _my_ Sasuke-kun!"

"No," Ino huffs. "I'm off boys altogether, ok? Change the subject."

Well, that's certainly an abrupt 180 turn from how she was in the hospital just a few days prior. She'll have to pin her down about that one later, though. "Well, how about the fights? You know, like, the _other_ reason why we, _as kunoichi,_ might want to be here?"

Ino sticks her tongue out and pulls down on a lower eyelid. "Like how poor Naruto is going to get curb-stomped by that Hyuuga jerk?"

"That Hyuuga's not so fantastic as he thinks he is! Anybody who thinks that everything is fate is bound to get lazy somewhere. That's where Naruto will get him!"

"Were you talking about _me,_ Sakura-chan?!"

The girls turn, and there are the three Leaf rookies: Shino, blank and bundled up; Naruto, buzzing with energy; and Shikamaru, a hand in his back pocket, staring up at the clouds.

"I'll get us good seats," says Ino with uncharacteristic coldness, and Sakura turns her head just in time to see her blonde bun disappear into the crowd.

Sakura turns back."Oh, Ino and I were just talking about your match, Naruto. You better wipe the floor with that guy today, got it? Hinata-chan and I are counting on you!"

Sakura meant this to be a light-hearted encouragement, but Naruto's eyes get starry.

"Counting on me… hehehehe… you got it, Sakura-chan! Yeah! I will! Hahahaha! Shikamaru! Shino! Did you hear that?! Sakura-chan is counting on _me_ dattebayo! _"_

 _Oh boy… maybe should have phrased that differently…_

—

 _"What I'm about to teach you is something no one else in the world can do."_

 _"Hn. Why can't they?"_

 _"Why not? Well… not only is it my own invention… but to use it properly requires the Sharingan."_

Kakashi watches the movement of the sun. He's still not satisfied with Sasuke's speed, but they've run out of time.

"You need to save your chakra, so we can only body flicker a short distance at the end into the arena. Try to keep up."

They run silently.

Trying to get the boy to see Kakashi as the only possible mentor in the world for him has been an arduous task. The boy is suspicious of the very concept of outside help that is given freely, as if his vengeance will be cheapened by it.

His strongest argument is more or less: _I have the Sharingan. You have the Sharingan. Itachi has the Sharingan, You need to know how to use it and how to defend against it. Nobody else in the world, including Orochimaru, can do that for you. Only me._

The question is, will that hold enough allure against the raw power of Orochimaru?

A whirlwind of leaves theatrically reveals their entrance into the arena. Appropriately enough for theatre, it's at the last possible moment. Should be an extra boost to the Leaf's reputation among the prominent clients assembled to watch the matches… assuming that Sasuke provides the proper finale by winning, of course.

He takes his time going up into the stands, since he was running all out to get there, and strolls over to where Guy and his prize pupil are standing. "Yo Guy. Nice to see you're recovering, Lee-kun."

"Kakashi-sensei!"

Sakura is sitting next to Ino, not looking delighted and lovestruck by Sasuke, as he had expected, but rather… irritated?

 _Ohhhhh yeah… I passed Naruto off to Ebisu so he knew I was leaving with Sasuke but I sort of… completely failed to mention anything to Sakura…_

He makes an embarrassed little wave and tries to play it off casually. "Oh, sorry! You must have been worried, huh? Sorry for never getting in touch."

Sakura's face tenses in the same way he's seen her do before an explosion of temper a hundred times, but no explosion comes. Instead, she quickly turns her face away from him and her whole posture slumps as she says quietly, "It doesn't matter anymore."

This doesn't seem like the determined kunoichi he glimpsed in the Forest of Death and the match against Ino. Had a month without training really undone so much progress?

"Kakashi-sensei… the mark on Sasuke-kun's neck…"

He cuts her off, not wanting eavesdroppers to spread that information. "Don't worry about that."

She looks up at him with a timid smile, and he forces an eye smile in return. He can't worry about her right now; there are more urgent things to think about.

 _—_

As the match against Gaara intensifies, Sakura forgets her worry about Orochimaru's "gift" and her fear of Gaara's murderous strength, losing herself in blissful admiration of Sasuke.

He is so heart-achingly _beautiful_ as he fights. Grace paired with power, confidence tinged with melancholy, raven hair and pale skin.

And in just one month he has improved this much!

 _Sasuke-kun is so amazing. Sasuke-kun is so cool!_

And when he prepares to unleash the Chidori, the electric chorus of birds sings as fast as the beat of her heart.

 _—_

In the aftermath of the invasion, the number of people he feels obliged to visit at the hospital is too damn high. The visits blur into each other—"Yo." "Yeah." "Hn." "Bye."

Kakashi makes his way towards the room where he's been told Sakura is, but pauses just out of sight in the hallway, having sensed Kurenai's chakra and not wanting to interrupt her visit.

"I really think you should reconsider discharging yourself," Kurenai is saying.

"Even the medics say it's just bruising at this point," Sakura replies. "Others need the attention more, I'm just a distraction for them if I stay. Besides, I want to go to the Sandaime's funeral."

There is a pause, then Kurenai says, delicately, "But are you sure you're alright, Sakura-chan? You seem… this may sound strange, but you are… I didn't expect you to seem so cheerful. I can't say how accurate it was, but what I heard about the battle with Gaara…"

"Oh," says Sakura. "Hmm… well, if you heard that I spent the whole battle getting closer and closer to being crushed against a tree, that's pretty much correct." There's a smile in her voice, and Kurenai is right: it's unnerving. "But I don't feel bad about it sensei. It's because of you and Kakashi-sensei, I think… I looked underneath the underneath…"

"What do you mean?"

"Well… I was sure I was going to just be killed instantly when I defied him over Sasuke-kun. I couldn't do otherwise and I didn't think about it, I just did it, so I suppose I can't say it was strategic or even intentional… but I had nothing to do _but_ think when I was watching the battle. Hey, sensei, do you know what the Haruno family crest looks like? No, you wouldn't, it's not like we're a shinobi clan… anyway, here it is."

A pause.

"I always thought of it as a circle, but it's basically a target, right?" She giggles. "For some reason, I kept thinking about that… maybe the lack of oxygen… _Huh, this is what a Haruno is,_ I was thinking, _a target…_ Anyway… and then I was thinking about what you said about the hidden strength of omega… action without action… and I was thinking about everything that happened in the Forest of Death… and I was watching Naruto fighting… for some reason, the enemy saw me as a tool, not a person… to taunt the boys… and that tool was turned against him, because they both became so strong to save me. So… I really did contribute to the battle, didn't I? We wouldn't have beaten Gaara, without me as his target…"

"Sakura-chan…" Kurenai's voice sounds conflicted.

"And also… just before I passed out, but I _know_ it was real, Sasuke-kun told Naruto to take care of me no matter what. He fought Gaara to keep me safe," Kakashi can practically hear the blush in her voice. "So… how could I be unhappy…"

Kurenai laughs. "Oh, Sakura-chan! You are too cute!"

They're at the door, Sakura looking pale and pained, but determined and optimistic. Her green eyes brighten further when she sees him.

"Yo." The eye crease and wave.

"Oh, Kakashi-sensei! You came to visit me?"

"Yeah." Back to the droopy eye.

"Well, I'm actually already discharged, and going home."

"Hn." A _that's good_ nod.

"I'm sure I'll see you at the funeral… I should get going though, I want to take it easy going home, and I need to be there by dinner time. Bye!"

"Bye." Another wave and crinkle.

Kurenai is silent at his side as Sakura walks off. When the genin turns the corner, Kurenai says, "What a remarkable girl, eh Kakashi? You must be proud."

Her tone and her eyes are challenging, but Kakashi chooses to merely give her a smile befitting the surface meaning of her words.

—

Sakura begins to wonder if she will ever have a life outside of a hospital.

Just when it seemed like, maybe, things might get back to some imitation of normal, Kakashi-sensei is thrown into a coma "defending the village", a vague explanation that she hates having to accept without asking further questions.

Sasuke-kun's coma doesn't get any explanation at all.

She adds them both to her daily hospital visit rotation, of course. The nurses and other staff know her by now—she has a head of hair that sticks in people's memories—and Yamasaka-san told Ino to give her the bulk discount on daffodils, which was nice of him.

In the morning she and Lee work on trivia books together. At first Lee didn't have his heart in such a, well, _trivial_ thing, but after Guy-sensei pops in, gives his flashy teeth thumbs up, and says in his usual bombastic way that having a wide-ranging knowledge is not only very youthful but also useful to shinobi who may need to take on a disguise at a moment's notice, Lee takes to the subject with his usual lack of restraint or rational perspective. It takes some effort to convince him that she doesn't even know if the bookstore _has_ five hundred copies.

The afternoon belongs to Sasuke-kun. She holds his hand, and tells him how cool he was in the exams. How cool he is all the time. Thanks him for saving her. Apologizes for being useless. Cries. Tells him about the weather. Sits in awkward silence.

Before she leaves to go home for dinner, she visits Kakashi-sensei. The first day she just sat there awkwardly for a while, looking around the room desperately seeking a topic, and ended up telling him all about why she chose to give daffodils as a flower, and from there, she talked about how in their childhood, Ino-chan helped her with flower arranging class. Then she vented upon the outsized importance given to flower arranging in the academy and before she knew it, she actually ended up being late for dinner.

The next day she scolded him that his bad habit of lateness was contagious, speculated on what he actually did all those times he showed up late, moved on to his habit of stiffing them with the bill, and ended up attempting to run up a tally, with interest, of how much she and the rest of Team 7 had ended up paying for his meals.

Another day she pointed out that she was really showing incredible self-control not unmasking him while he was unconscious and defenceless, then suggested that maybe she _should_ try to unmask him, because with his preternatural ability to avoid being seen unmasked by them, he would probably regain consciousness just in time to stop her.

She always leaves Sasuke-kun feeling so low, but somehow, the short period of time she allots to her sensei always revives her.

But she's with Sasuke-kun, in the "awkward silence" part of her visit, when Tsunade-sama arrives.

It's awe at first sight. This woman radiates power, beauty, grace, and _authority_.

Sasuke-kun has spent all this time in the hospital without anyone being able to do anything. And yet with the simple press of a glowing hand, the new Hokage wakes him within moments.

—

Kakashi wakes up after his long spell of unconsciousness feeling like shit, walks home feeling like shit, goes to bed feeling like shit, and wakes up around noon, still feeling like shit, with the cherry on the shit sundae being the bird messenger at the window, telling him he has a mission.

He has no choice but to take it, but he resolves that no matter what, he _will_ find each of his genin and personally inform them where he's going this time. Sakura apparently visited him every day he was in the hospital and even brought him flowers, perhaps because the universe thought he didn't have enough things to feel guilty about lately.

Sasuke will be quickest to find, and Sakura may very well be with him, so he heads for the hospital first.

—

Apple slices and a smashed plate on a hospital floor.

"Fight me, Naruto… _now._ "

"Sasuke-kun, what's wrong?! Naruto… tell him to stop…!"

"Huh… I've been thinking about fighting you too!"

"Ok you two, that's enough!" Sakura exclaims.

 _What's happening… it's like they can't hear or see me!_

She follows them up to the roof, and can't do anything more than remain at the top of the stairs, watching in horror as the waves of killing intent ripple off them both.

 _Should I try to get someone? Shannaro! I don't know who or where…_

"Stop… _stop!_ "

Sasuke readies his chidori and Naruto pulls out something she's never seen before, but she has no doubt it's just as deadly.

 _I can't get help in time… I'm too weak to stop them… so I have to use my weakness as a strength… what I am is…_

She rushes between them.

 _…nothing but a target…_

"Both of you stop this!"

But they aren't stopping… maybe they can't stop.

Sakura closes her eyes.

But she doesn't die. She reopens her eyes and Kakashi has thrown both boys aside.

The water tanks leak and burst, and Sakura begins to cry. "Kakashi-sensei…"

She doesn't know how much time passes until he is there again, crouching in front of her, with his happy eye crease smile. Like old times. "It's alright! Things will go back to the way they used to be soon!"

He vanishes, and Sakura smiles, because of course, Kakashi-sensei will take care of it all.

Then she's left facing Naruto.

"Sakura-chan… don't interfere dattebayo."

At this awkward juncture, the mysterious white haired man appears from behind the busted water tanks.

"Well! You must be the Sakura-chan whose name I've heard so often! And I'm the Jiraiya-sama I'm sure he's told you all about!"

Sakura glances at Naruto, who is wriggling as if the awkwardness is inflicting physical pain on his body. "No, he hasn't mentioned…"

"Ha! Then let me introduce myself! Legendary in the ninja arts, but exalted in the arts of love! The one who can sense a beauty from kilometres away! The mysterious master of Mount Myoboku! The magnificent sage, Jiraiyaaaaaa!"

"…Naruto… who _is_ this pervert?!"

—

The night after his attempt to reason with Sasuke, Kakashi awakens from a nightmare. It was his argument with Obito before his death again, except Obito had tied him to a tree with wire, and he couldn't free himself to chase after him. Time went on as he struggled—he heard Obito screaming, and then Rin—and then the wires around him were snakes, and they were laughing at him.

—

"Haruno Sakura… Kakashi told me that you're intelligent and strong-willed." The new Hokage gestures for Sakura to take a seat.

Sakura does so, honestly bewildered that Kakashi had any occasion at all to speak about _her_ to the _Hokage._ Nor does she exactly know how to respond. The polite thing to do would be to disclaim the compliment, but if she wants to be taken on as an apprentice, shouldn't she be emphasizing her good qualities?

Tsunade-sama smiles. "Compliments are double-edged, hmm?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

The youthful looking woman pours out a dish of sake but doesn't yet pick it up. "I've never accepted an apprentice before. There's Shizune, of course, but the circumstances were not the same." She pauses for a moment, then drinks the dish down in one gulp and shakes her head a bit as if annoyed by an insect. "Kakashi didn't mention that you're an omega, but you are, of course."

"I—yes. Will that—" Sakura pauses to swallow and collect her nerve. "Will that be an issue?"

"Absolutely." Tsunade leans back in her chair and smirks. "Being a female will be an issue. That ridiculous hair colour will be an issue. I haven't read your file, but I'm sure there are other things that will be an issue too. I don't recognize the surname. Civilian family?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

"Another issue. The question is, will you persevere despite them?"

Sakura is silent for a moment. "Despite… When I first found out I was an omega, I wondered if I could be an kunoichi 'despite' that… then… someone told me that she thought that omegas could make being weak a strength. It seemed to me, for a while, that it wasn't that I could do anything on my own, but I seemed to have a talent for… for being rescued. For inspiring _others_ to be strong. I thought that was all I could do, so I tried to do that. Hokage-sama, do you think that a kunoichi could be like that?"

The older woman gazes up in thought. "It isn't a path I could teach," she says finally. "Is it a path you want to take?"

"I thought I did, but… no matter what I said, it didn't… Sasuke-kun left me and… and that was… most important…" Sakura trails off, hating how weak and pathetic she's sounding. _Impress the Hokage! Impress! Impress!_ She squares her shoulders. "So I've decided that isn't the path for me either. I want to be strong, I want to be the one who saves others from now on. I want to be a medic-nin like you. Kakashi-sensei said I have perfect chakra control and I am good at studying. I know I can do it!"

"You still haven't directly answered. Can you persevere?"

Sakura can't bring herself to directly answer yet. "Hokage-sama… do you think for an omega to be a kunoichi is foolish?"

"It is foolish." Tsunade pours herself more sake. "But most things connected to being shinobi are. Being Hokage, for example. I've become more open to foolish things recently, so you've caught me at a good time. If it will reassure you, I feel the foolishness of omega shinobi is greatly overestimated, and that of alpha shinobi almost totally overlooked. Someone I once knew, during the war, idly suggested the possibility of taking an omega female in heat to battle in a chakra cage, where she could be scented but not reached, accompanied by a squad of all betas to annihilate the presumably majority alpha enemy squadron while they were out of their minds with lust. He had… interesting ideas, even back then." She grimaces. "Even he didn't think the idea really workable, but the point remains that everyone judges the omega for being unable to control her body, yet overlooks the fact that the alpha is just as out of control. Why do you think that is, Sakura?"

Sakura had never really thought of it that way. "Well… the consequences are more severe for the omega."

"Because she becomes pregnant you mean. True in a sense, but only insofar as most people, even unmarked alphas, don't know what the pull of the bond does to alphas. The truth is vulgar, Sakura, but if you're going to be a medic, you'll have to be able to handle the vulgarity of the human body and how it behaves. Do you want to hear it?"

Of course Sakura can handle it. "Yes."

"It's because men fuck, and women _get_ fucked." She drinks down the sake and laughs as Sakura blushes. "At least that's how people think about it. And the human mind connects sex and violence. Omega women, in this way of thinking, are the most feminine women, and alpha men the most masculine men, so how could shinobi do otherwise than reject the one and idolize the other? Meanwhile, alpha women, like myself, are half accepted, half eyed with suspicion. People aren't quite sure how we work. And omega men apparently hardly exist at all—ask any man married to an alpha female, he's _definitely_ not an omega." She rolls her eyes. "What I'm saying, Sakura, is that the forces arrayed against your success as an omega are more or less the same as the ones that have caused there to be twice as many boys as girls in your graduating class. They're just a bit more intense. So to succeed, you will need not only talent, but to work _hard_ —even harder than an ordinary kunoichi does to be taken seriously. Are you capable of that? Because if you become my apprentice, I warn you, I'll treat you worse than the world will—then you'll be able to take the rest on with a smile."

"I can!" says Sakura, and smiles back, nearly dizzy with relief and exhilaration.

—

"You look like you did when I saw you in the hospital. When you said you were sorry. Made me wonder what happened to the hard-ass little genius brat you were when I left."

"A lot of things, Hokage-sama." Kakashi says softly.

Tsunade huffed, but with a certain element of understanding on her face. "I should discipline you for rejecting the mission and going after them on your own, of course."

"I understand and accept that."

Tsunade shakes her head. "I was reading—or perhaps I should say skimming—your file. Sandaime-sama thought that being a jounin-sensei was good for you. What do you think?"

"I think… I think a teacher is not a teacher for his own benefit."

"Ah." She interlaces her fingers and leans forward. "Have you benefitted your students?"

Kakashi's gaze drops, and Tsunade says sharply, "Do not fail to meet my eyes like you did in the hospital, Kakashi."

He looks back up. "I don't… there may have been… it is hard for me to be objective. I attempted to teach them about looking underneath the underneath, but I repeatedly failed to perceive what was going on even at the surface level. And failure compounded on failure." He takes a breath. "I will do better by Sakura from now on."

"You won't need to. She is now my apprentice."

The visible eye widens. "So then… the three of them…"

"It certainly seems that way." She suddenly laughs, head thrown back and eyes closed, as if it's the funniest thing she's heard in weeks. When she settles down, she continues, "Don't take it to heart, Kakashi! Even Sandaime-sama had a 33% failure rate with us." She picks up a piece of paper. "Now, regarding this mission…"


	7. Chapter 7

Kakashi has only been asleep for a few hours when he receives possibly his least favourite wake up call.

"My rival! You must arise and run with me into the starry night! Hokage-sama awaits us with a cool new mission briefing. I will give you a five minute head start to the tower." Despite only being illuminated by moonlight, Guy's fucking teeth _still_ manage to glint. Then he drops down. Then the top of his head pokes up over the windowsill. Disappears. Reappears. Apparently Guy is going to spend the five minutes doing pull-ups off of his window, because of course he is.

Kakashi groans, but gets up anyway. Sending Guy is playing dirty. It's not that he actually cares all that much about beating Guy, but _Guy_ cares, and so Kakashi has to actually make an effort.

He doesn't know, as he skims over the rooftops, that the next two and a half years will be a blur of missions—sometimes short ones piled up together, barely leaving him time to stroke the shurikens on his duvet and whisper "how I've missed sleeping with you" to his pillows before he's off again; sometimes months-long S-class solo missions. He will go through three copies of _Icha Icha Violence_ and four of _Icha Icha Paradise_. He will summon his ninken at the slightest excuse to use their skills, just for the pleasure of scratching behind their ears to say good job at the end.

—

"Hey! Ino! Ino-Pig!"

Ino turns away from Chouji at the gate and grins and waves at Sakura. "Forehead! Miss me much?"

"No, I hit the dartboard with your face on it every time by now," says Sakura. "Check it out, I got new boots."

"Whoa. Those are hot." Ino gives an appreciative look as Sakura does a little combination spin and toe tap. "I mean, as hot as you can get while still being practical, at least. I like what you're doing with the slits in that skirt thing. It's like… you're showing your underwear, without actually showing your underwear. And buckles are sexy. Boys will love it. I should get something like that. Let's go shopping."

"Ino," says Shikamaru, "you can't leave us to write the mission report without you."

Ino gives him a frighteningly wide smile. "Would you like me to come to your room tonight and work on it with you, _Shikamaru-kun_?"

Shikamaru stares back at her with an unreadable expression, then sighs. "Troublesome woman. Fine. C'mon Chouji."

Sakura observes this little interaction with a troubled frown. All Ino would ever say about what had happened between her and Shikamaru was "he decided he didn't want to risk our team relationship" and "let's talk about something else." It wasn't like the usually open to a fault girl.

Ino turns back to Sakura, and the two begin to walk towards the fashion district. "Oh! If we're going shopping, let me show you this. We were having a mission in Grass, you know, and I picked up this magazine, look. Mesh is going to be _it_ soon."

"Mesh?"

"Yeah, reverse principle of your skirt, Forehead. It pretends to cover up, but actually it shows everything." She winks. "It's perfect for me, don't you think? I can debut a new look just in time for the new chuunin exam."

"Hey, Ino." Kiba and Akamaru have bounded up to them, with Shino and Hinata nearby, exiting the gyoza stand. "Good to see you've made it back in time for the exams."

"Of course," says Ino, a little coolly. "Chouji and I couldn't leave Sakura-chan out to dry, could we Kiba?" In a markedly warmer tone, she calls out, "Hi, Shino-kun! Hi, Hinata-chan!"

Kiba looks a bit stung as Shino and Hinata approach. The bug user merely gives a small stiff nod, but the Byakugan princess says softly, "Hello Ino-chan, Sakura-chan."

"We're going shopping, Hinata-chan. You should come, if you have the afternoon free!" says Sakura.

"Hmmm… ah… m-maybe… I would like to visit the craft store and buy some more yarn, but… Neji-nii-san said he'd train with me at 3:30… so…"

"Oh, we have plenty of time then!" says Ino, linking an elbow with both girls. "Bye boys!"

As soon as they've pulled away from the boys, Ino delinks their elbows and taps on the upper part of Hinata's chest, causing the girl to give out a startled squeak. "You see? Mesh. This is what I was talking about, Sakura. Doesn't it look great? Me and Hinata are going to set a trend in mesh and everyone's going to be saying, 'Look at that boring Sakura, no mesh.'"

"Ino-pig, stop sexually harassing Hinata-chan."

"That's not sexual harassment. Sexual harassment would be if I—"

"Ino!"

"I'm just messing with you, Forehead. Oh, speaking of sexual harassment!" She stops walking, looks around furtively, then beckons both girls' heads closer. With trepidation, Sakura and Hinata lean in. "We had a free morning in Kusagakure while waiting for the contact to show up, so we were all doing separate things. I said I was going to go check out their public garden, but it was dull so I left almost right away and went to the market district, and I saw Asuma-sensei inside a jewelry shop." She paused dramatically. "Looking at _rings._ "

The girls react with predictable excitement. "Do you think he was getting an engagement ring for Kurenai-sensei?" whispers Hinata.

"Definitely. He's got it sooooo bad for her. And about time too. If they're engaged, they'll have to stop pretending like everybody doesn't already know they're a couple. It's silly."

Their first stop is not a clothing store nor the craft store but a housewares store, where Sakura picks up a pretty ceramic sake set decorated with cherry blossoms—a gift for her shishou to thank her for one year of apprenticeship. "I'm hoping if it has sentimental value maybe she won't throw it at someone the next time she gets too mad."

The proprietor of Kunoichi Couture apparently read the same magazines as Ino, because there's mesh everywhere. A shopgirl comes over, swiftly appraises the three of them at a glance, and gambles on glancing back and forth between Ino and Hinata as she says, "May I be of assistance?"

Sakura crosses her arms stoically while Inner Sakura shakes her fist. _I may not obviously be from a famous clan but my money's as good as anyone else's, shannaro!_

"This, but better," says Ino simply with a sweep of her hand over her body.

"I know just what you'll like," the assistant promises and leads her off.

"Ah… Sakura-chan… I was wondering… if you had some free time… a-after the exams, of course… i-if you were free… and it wasn't an inconvenience…"

Sakura lays a finger down at the joined spot of her fidgeting index fingers, stilling them. "Hinata-chan. Take a breath and just say it."

Sakura's grin encourages Hinata into an embarrassed giggle. "Ah… well… I was wondering if you could perhaps teach me to cook? I could… ah… maybe I could pay for the ingredients, or… I don't know if I could teach you anything… I would teach you how to make our medicinal cream, but I'm not allowed—"

"Hinata-chan. Stop." Sakura lifts her finger and Hinata's hands twist awkwardly. "I don't mind at all, but why do you want to learn?"

"Well… I just thought it would be useful, m-maybe even fun… I got out a book about knitting from the library and I really enjoy it… I would do that with cooking, too, but…" She blushes, looks down and to the side, and mumbles, "the kitchen is in the b-branch family p-part of the compound… so…"

"Hmm." Sakura lets her gaze drifts over the shelves of sandals and boots as she thinks. Her first impulse is to deny that Hinata needs to repay her in any way, but then she reconsiders. Hinata will probably feel less awkward and bothersome if she is giving something in return. "How about you knit me something for the winter and I'll teach you the basics? You can just come over when I'm going to cook a meal for myself anyway. Just toss me a few ryo to make up the extra cost in food, if that bothers you."

Hinata looks up with her cute, serene smile. "That sounds very fair! Sakura-chan, would you like a scarf, or—"

"Can you knit mesh?" Ino suddenly interrupts, body flickering right next to them and snickering when they both jump back in alarm.

"Ino! What's wrong with you?!" Sakura sputters.

"Nin~ja," Ino sing-songs merrily, and puts her hands on her hips. "But seriously. Knit her something mesh. She's gonna be the only one of us without mesh. I'll be embarrassed to be seen with her. More importantly, what do you think?"

The blonde twirls, and Hinata says softly, "It suits you, Ino-chan."

"It suits you a little too much," says Sakura critically. "You're going to have sunburn inside your belly button."

Ino sticks out her tongue. "If you're jealous it must be perfect, Forehead. I'm gonna buy it."

—

The past two-odd years have been weirdly unreal for Kakashi. There is something going on out there, something big, something that he keeps catching traces of in the breeze, but the traces don't lead anywhere. He's continuously sent on A and S ranked missions, so what he's doing ought to be important, but nothing seems to actually be accomplished. Treading water and waiting for something.

He's on another A rank, with Asuma and Hyuuga Iroha, but his presence is more of an insurance policy than a necessity. Tsunade-sama promised Asuma he'd be back well in time for his wedding, and she promised Kakashi that he'd have time off for the same.

He dreamily pictures snuggling into his bed, his _actual_ bed, for eight hours. Maybe even _more_ than eight hours.

Kakashi offers to take first watch. The taciturn Hyuuga agrees with a brief "Hai," and disappears into his tent, but Asuma lingers under the excuse of finishing his cigarette, even when Kakashi pulls out _Icha Icha Paradise_ and begins to read from where he left off last time.

 _From his position in the top of the pine tree, Tadao could see everything. He could not help reaching into his swimming trunks to stroke himself, imagining that it was him who had his tongue on Junko's clit, his name that she was keening out, his hand holding her tiny bikini bottom to the side._

 _Junko writhed in pleasure upon the towel, knocking away her bottle of sunscreen and canteen in her futile attempt to find something to grab onto on the white sand of the beach. "Ugh, Kenta, I'm so close…"_

 _The angle obscured exactly what Kenta was doing with his fingers, but it brought Junko to completion and, though the young lifeguard didn't know it, Tadao as well._

As Kakashi reads, he's aware of Asuma's repeated glances, as if he wants to speak with him and doesn't at the same time.

Kakashi decides to test the waters, lowering his book. "Sakura was on your team for the chuunin exams this time, right?"

"Oh, yeah. She did great. They all did great. Amazing how much they've changed the last year or so." He laughs suddenly, with a certain bitter edge. "You know, when I first got my team, I couldn't get over how immature they were. You know, when we were that age, we—well, you know."

Kakashi nods.

"It drove me crazy, all their bitching and whining and childishness, but… god, sometimes I wish I could get those little kids back." He sighs deeply.

"I know exactly what you mean," Kakashi says quietly.

"You're lucky you got out when you did, man," continues Asuma, unknowingly poking a sore spot. "Before we left Konoha, I had Yamanaka Inoichi in my face asking about how I was going to chaperone them. I didn't have a clue what he was so worried about. I wish I still didn't. I love that girl, but she is a menace! I wish she was half as good at stealth out in the field. Plus I'm pretty sure she broke the Kazekage's brother's heart, so the entire time we were saying goodbye I was worried there was going to be an international incident."

Kakashi's visible eye widens. It's stupid, but it hadn't even _occurred_ to him that his students would be sexually maturing. Stupid, because Asuma's comment of "When we were that age, we—well, you know," would apply equally as well to becoming sexually active.

And Naruto is training with _Jiraiya_ …!

"Sakura isn't…" Kakashi says, unable to finish the sentence, his mind utterly unable to associate the word _sex_ with his memory of the red-ribboned rosette that she had been at their first meeting.

Asuma laughs. "Come on, don't tell me you're worried about her innocence or something! She's a kunoichi!"

It's _because_ she's been so thoroughly drenched in violence that he wishes for some part of her not to have yet advanced to the messy (in many senses) complications of adult relationships. Kakashi forces a light laugh. "No, I was just thinking that she'd still be hung up on the Uchiha. It's good if she isn't…"

The mention of the Uchiha seems to kill conversation. Asuma pulls another cigarette out and turns it over in his hands a few times before finally lighting it.

"Kakashi," says Asuma at last, "have you ever done something that you know is horrible and that you should regret and feel guilt about, but you somehow can't?"

"No," says Kakashi without hesitation.

Asuma sighs deeply. "I fucked up big time."

"Does it have to do with the mission…?"

"I knotted Kurenai before we left."

"Ah? Spontaneous heat?"

Asuma breathes out smoke. "No. I asked her to stop doing the jutsu."

"…Congratulations on your impending fatherhood?"

"I know it was selfish, but I just couldn't stand it anymore… having her but not having had her completely…"

There is a moment's silence. _It is affecting the mission. He can't decide how to feel about it, huh? Does he want me to tell him it's ok?_

"Kurenai's a big girl. If she didn't want to take that step with you she wouldn't have."

"Kurenai does whatever she thinks will make me happy." Asuma says this as if it is the worst thing in the world.

"You know, I think a lot of men would be over the moon to be able to say that about Kurenai. Like, yourself, a year ago."

Asuma manages a chuckle. "This isn't like me, is it?"

"You've never really been the kind who worried about responsibility," Kakashi agrees, "but maybe that was because you didn't have any responsibility for something that important."

Asuma pulls the only half-smoked cigarette away from his mouth, sighs, and grinds it into the dirt with his foot. "You know Kurenai put one condition on it, that I stop smoking? After this mission, cold turkey, she says. I'm going to be a fucking mess during the wedding."

"You were probably going to be that already." He reopens _Icha Icha Paradise._

—

 _"Kanpai!_ " shriek four excited girls, clinking cans of chu-hi together.

This little get-together is officially to celebrate Sakura's new independent existence in a tiny one bedroom apartment near the hospital, but because it's just the girls, it is also serving as an opportunity for Ino to talk about her sexual exploits, to the awed fascination of the other three (even Hinata, who keeps needing to take deep breaths to keep from swooning).

"I'm telling you, Shino is definitely the best I've had yet," Ino declares. "Once you get over the bug thing-"

"But _how_ do you get over the bug thing?" says Tenten, incredulous.

Hinata nods rapidly, and Sakura adds, "Yeah, it's a bit like saying 'Running to the Land of Water is easy, once you get over the ocean.' The ocean is the whole point!"

"I have two words for you," Ino says, holding up two fingers and ticking them off. _"Living. Vibrator."_

The other three look at each other in confusion, and Ino tsks.

"Ugh. Sheltered virgins, all of you. When he's really excited, those little kikai bugs of his? They _vibrate_. Through his _whole body_."

Hinata whispers through her fingers, "You mean… Sh-shino-kun's… thing…?"

Now it's Ino's turn to nod rapidly. " _Yes._ And his hands. And his tongue!"

Sakura can't decide whether this is more horrifying or arousing, or if it needs a new compound word to describe it, like horrousing. "But… that's because his penis and his hands and his tongue are all… full of bugs, right?"

Ino shrugs. "It's a trade off."

"But that means there are bugs. In your vagina. _Bugs in your vagina!_ "

Hinata lets out a squeak and her hands come up to cover her eyes.

"They stay inside his body!"

"But they're _there_ and your vagina is _there_ and oh man, Ino-chan, I definitely couldn't do it, sorry. No way." Sakura shudders and eats a chocolate biscuit to calm herself.

"I gotta agree," says Tenten. "Not if he was the last man in Konoha!"

"Whatever. More for me," says Ino with a shrug, and bites the head off a gummy bear.

The girls listen to Ino's accounts of the guy she hooked up with in Suna (it was Kankuro: "he really knows what to do with his hands"), and then get the scoop on who she has and hasn't made a move on among the Konoha 11. She assures Tenten she won't make a move on Neji unless the weapons mistress makes it clear that their thing, whatever it is, is over. Hinata and Sakura are both relieved, for different reasons, that she doesn't plan to make a move on Naruto either when he returns, although Sakura can't help exclaiming that Ino is weird for being ok with bugs but not a giant fox.

"Bugs are one thing," says Ino. "Ok, they're gross, whatever. A giant demon fox could straight up murder you, right? I mean, you've seen Naruto when he gets super angry, I wouldn't want to see him super lustful. Besides, I'm ruined for alpha-alpha sex for life after Kiba. Worst sex ever. I even tried it a second time, thinking, ok, he was a virgin, _surely_ he'll improve, right, but no. If you've ever seen a dog mounting an inanimate object, that's basically his technique."

Hinata looks a little faint. Whether from the idea that Naruto might tear someone apart during sex, or from picturing her teammate and friend Kiba humping the arm of a sofa, or some combination of the two is unclear, but Sakura hurries to change the subject.

—

Kakashi, his chakra masked as usual, is just about to knock on his former student's door, but pauses as he hears that student saying loudly, "Hey, I've got an idea for how we should really celebrate making chuunin. Everybody chip in a hundred ryo and we'll sponsor a d-rank mission to kill that stupid cat."

"Yes! Let's do it!" crows the loud voice of the Yamanaka girl. Other girlish giggles can be heard, and Kakashi can't help smiling as well. "It'll be a mercy killing, really. No cat runs away that much unless its existence is hell."

"We'll be heroes to all future genins," declares another voice, probably Guy's Tenten.

"M-maybe they'll even put up a marker for us at the Stone." That's the unmistakeable stutter of the Hyuuga heiress, and the other girls laugh even harder, probably partly at the surprise that the shy girl managed a joke at all.

"I propose that the mission involves taking the cat to the Forest of Death, where it can become part of the food chain," says the probably-Tenten voice.

There is a noise like a snack bag being opened and the Yamanaka says, "Why do we even _have_ a Forest of Death? Do you think that's on the tourism brochures for Konoha in other places? 'Come to beautiful Konoha, stay for the giant centipedes—permanently!'"

"I thought you didn't mind bugs, Ino-pig?" Sakura says—lasciviously? _Why lasciviously?_

"That is not the same thing!"

" _Bugs in your vagina!"_

 _"Living vibrator!"_

This conversation has abruptly become one that Kakashi is not at all keen to overhear, so he briskly knocks on the door.

There is silence, and then a sudden burst of nervous laughter, and then the door opens and Sakura is there, taller, dressed casually with the back of her hair thrown up into a messy ponytail. Behind her on the floor he can see the three other Konoha 11 girls, various junk food and take-out containers, and empty cans of chu-hi. All the girls have red faces, probably a combination of embarrassment and intoxication.

"Yo," he says with an innocent eye crinkle, "I just got back from a mission today and Hokage-sama mentioned you moving into your own place now that you're a responsible chuunin, Sakura-chan. Congratulations." He pauses, and glances down at the can of chu-hi in her hand—cherry flavour. It figures. "By the way, how exactly did you get those drinks?"

Sakura takes a drink from the can as if it's perfectly reasonable for a fifteen year old girl to be doing so. "Shishou has me pick up her sake sometimes. When I went this time, I said we needed a case of mixed chu-hi for a reception and paid the difference out of my own money. Couldn't be easier." She takes another drink. "You don't have to worry, sensei, I already know how to do the detox jutsu."

Kakashi remembers buying his first R18 novel at fourteen. It seems a bit hypocritical to try to tell girls who risk their lives every mission to refrain from adult pleasures until they grow up. "Very clever," he says, ruffling the front of her hair. The action and her resultant squeal are a far more effective way of reminding her of her actual age than a lecture. From beneath his other arm he produces a box, which opens to reveal a tiny plant. "I thought I would bring you a housewarming gift!"

His former student giggles and reaches out to receive the box.

"It's a cutting from Mr. Ukki! Ta da!"

"What, really?" she says, and he is surprised to see that she actually seems really excited by this connection to Team 7's pathetic little gift. "Hey, come look at this! Kakashi-sensei gave me Mr. Ukki's baby!"

The girls begin squealing as if it really is a precious infant instead of a cutting from a cheap houseplant. Kakashi reaches up to scratch his hair in bewilderment.

"I'll put Ukki Junior-chan in the windowsill right away," says Sakura, matching her actions to her deeds.

"He's a dracaena," says the Yamanaka. "Don't water him too much."

Sakura smiles brightly at Kakashi. "You see, Kakashi-sensei, Ino-chan will make sure that I take good care of Mr. Ukki's baby, so you don't have to worry! Thank you so much for your generous gift!" She bows deeply and formally, but then starts giggling, and the other girls join in too.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei, you want to come in? We have plenty of chu-hi and there's arare… pretzel sticks… gummies…"

"You finished the gummies, Ino- _pig_."

"Only because you'd already eaten all the chocolate biscuits, _Forehead_."

Kakashi raised his hands to defuse the situation between the best frenemies. "I really should be resting after my mission, no time to stay. I'll see you all at the wedding, I'm guessing?"

Emphatic agreement all around. "Yep! It's gonna be awesome!" cries Ino.

"Kurenai-sensei showed me the Sarutobi wedding kimono. It's so beautiful," gushes Hinata, eyes shining.

Sakura's face suddenly flashes panic. "Oh no! I forgot to buy a dress!"

The girls talk over each other with offers to let her raid their closets or go shopping.

"Ok, I don't think I can help with this problem," says Kakashi with an eye crinkle.

He waves as the girls chorus a final "Bye bye, Kakashi-sensei!" As the door closes and he walks away, he can hear them all giggling again.

Why do girls always giggle so much when they're together?

It really was a mystery…

—

The sheltered Hyuuga heiress was picked up at barely nine-o'-clock by her perpetually frowning caretaker, which freed Ino and Sakura to mercilessly tease Tenten about her ambiguous relationship with Neji. Speaking about "Neji-nii-san" as if he is a sexual being around Hinata is a one way ticket to fainting town for the timid girl.

"Neji-kun's weird ponytail gets me so hot," moans Sakura, holding up her fists to the top of her head to imitate Tenten's hair.

"Neji-kun can see how soaked my panties are with his Byakugan," chimes in Ino.

Tenten huffs. "You two are terrible. I could do it back to you, you know, and you'd like it a lot less."

Ino and Sakura look at each other and fall silent.

"Should we put on a movie?" says Sakura awkwardly.

"Yeah, alright, but after I should probably go home," says Tenten. "It'll be nice to have someone in the same building, Sakura-chan. When you go on missions I can water Ukki Junior-chan for you."

When the movie is over and Tenten leaves, Ino helps Sakura clear away the wrappers, wash up the dishes, rinse and bin the cans, and pull out the futons. They change into boyshorts and tank tops, wash their faces, and brush their teeth, chatting the whole time, mostly about menthol in face wash: Sakura taking the ground that it's proven irritating to skin, and Ino saying that her skin looks fine and she likes the way it feels.

There is silence for a minute after they turn out the lights and tuck themselves in, and then Sakura says, "Hey, Pig?"

Ino rolls over to face her. "What is it, Forehead?"

"You don't have to answer, but… what happened between you and Shikamaru?"

Ino sighs. As her eyes adjust to the moonlight, Sakura can just make out the twist in her lip. "It's not as interesting as bugs in my vagina."

"Now there's a sentence I should take out of context."

Ino giggles. "Get Naruto to spray it on the Hokage monument when he comes back."

Sakura giggles back, and after a moment, Ino continues, "His family was having dinner with us that night." She doesn't have to say which night. "It came on very gradually, I can't point to one moment and say that was it. I didn't realize it was a rut. I just knew he smelled and looked amazing and that I _wanted_ him. I wanted him bad." She sighs again. "He felt it too, I know he did, but he wasn't as comfortable with it as I was. He went along with me to my room when I asked him—I made some lame excuse about wanting to show him something in my room for the benefit of our parents. He knew _exactly_ what I wanted to show him, I know he did. I should never have wasted my time, I should have marked him right away, but I just… I just wanted to make him feel good and relax first…"

"How did you get caught?"

Ino scowled. "He was too fucking noisy, that's what. All I did was grind on him and I'm pretty sure they heard him in the Hokage tower."

"Shikamaru is a screamer?!" Sakura can't help laughing, and fortunately Ino at least grins.

"More like an _incredibly_ loud moaner," Ino clarifies. "Anyway. His fucking _mom_ burst in the room thinking he's sick or something. This woman has known me since I was a baby and there I am in my panties in her son's lap. Talk about awkward."

Sakura wrinkles her nose. "TMI, Pig!"

Ino snorts, a bit too much like her namesake. "Sheltered virgin. Anyway, they figured out pretty quickly from the way we were acting that this was something a bit more… primal… than basic sexual experimentation, and hauled me off to the hospital, where the staff was like 'yep she's an alpha congratulations' and shot me full of suppressants. I didn't mind that, it's not like I _really_ want to have a baby at thirteen, but the problem is that his parents and my parents lost their minds over the idea of us marking each other."

"Well… they probably just think you shouldn't make that kind of decision so young…"

"Ha. If it was just that I could deal. If they wanted to say, wait until I'm eighteen or twenty or whatever, I could deal with that. But it isn't that. It's Ino-Shika-Cho. Apparently it's the end of the world if I don't personally give birth to my successor as Yamanaka clan head. Dad took me to the Clan Memorial and everything, blah blah blah sixteen unbroken generations, blah blah blah oaths." Ino smoothed the duvet in an irritated manner. "That was a nice surprise. Gee, dad, maybe you should have mentioned before now that I can only marry men who are willing to give up their own family name? Because that's gonna be an easy sell. Especially among shinobi."

 _No wonder she was so emphatic that she was not going to chase Sasuke-kun anymore. The clan thing would be a bigger dealbreaker than the alpha thing._ "That really sucks, Ino-chan."

The rarely used endearment makes Ino smile briefly, but then she scowls. "You don't know the half of it. I was willing enough to tell them they had no right to forbid it… but Shikamaru…" She forces a laugh. "He wants me too, I know he does, but going against our clans is just too _troublesome_ …"

Ino's lip trembles, and Sakura says, "We sure have great taste in boys, huh?" attempting to lighten the mood.

Her friend lets out an amused huff. "Speak for yourself, Forehead. Anyone can tell you I've got a wide-ranging taste in boys now. Anyway, you need to shut up and let me sleep."

"Hope you have nightmares."

"Yeah, I'm gonna dream about your stupid face."

With these affectionate words, they lapse into silence.

—

"White pants, Kakashi? Really?"

As he has quite clearly paired his black haori jacket with a simple pair of white pants, Kakashi feels no need to verbally confirm this or even look up from the page of his book.

Asuma rubs self-consciously at his hair, falling down around his ears now it isn't held up with a forehead protector anymore, and then continues in the same tone—aiming for relaxed mockery but coming out tense and neurotic. "I've never understood how you can read that in public, anyway. Are you just walking around Konoha with a boner all day? Are you constantly ducking into alleyways to jack off or something? You barely react, other than that ridiculous giggle—"

"Laugh."

"It's a giggle."

Kakashi glances up for just a moment. "I know what you're doing, Asuma. You want something to focus on so you're not so nervous about the wedding. Pick another target than my laugh."

"I'm not trying to distract myself, man! I honestly just wanna know how—"

"The same reason bonded alphas can't cheat. I guess you haven't found it out yet because you haven't wanted anything but Kurenai, but you can park yourself at the peephole of an onsen hosting a porn star convention for hours and absolutely nothing will be happening downstairs."

"Are you serious? Then what do you bother reading that crap for?"

"The plot." He turns another page, and smiles a bit. It's the beginning of another favourite scene, where Junko is interrupted while performing a strip tease for Tadao and has to fight the enemies while wearing nothing but knee high boots and a wicked smile. The entire page opposite the illustration was dedicated to describing in minute detail Junko's breasts and how her taijutsu moves affected their movement.

There's a long silence, and Kakashi glances up again to discover that Asuma is no longer looking on the verge of a panic attack, but rather is looking at the Copy Ninja with pity. "So since Rin died—"

"Asuma! It is time at last to vow to protect your lady's youthful heart forever!" Guy bellows as he bursts in through the door. "I congratulate you again, my friend! The passion of love…!" His fists tremble as tears slide down his cheeks.

—

Sakura turns a page of _Efficacy of Chakra Exhaustion Treatment: A Meta-analysis of Clinical Outcomes_ as the delicious smells of miso, simmering mackerel, and the comforting base note scent of rice infuse her apartment.

"Byakugan," says the cook, and after a minute, says, "Ah, he's left the compound. Running, but not full speed. Should be just a few minutes." There is a crack as the gas flame catches, heating up the wok to make yasai itame.

Sakura frowns at the diagram in front of her, comparing and contrasting the byakugan and the sharingan for the purposes of showing the effects of chakra exhaustion on each doujutsu.

She runs her finger along chakra pathways, wondering what road Sasuke-kun is traveling on now, if he's well, if he thinks about her at all, and how he thinks about her if he does…

"Sakura-chan," says Hinata, interrupting these painful thoughts, "just to let you know, you're almost out of shoyu."

"Ah, thank you for telling me," Sakura says, shutting the journal resolutely. "I'll clean off the table for dinner."

Just as everything is about ready, unhidden chakra, and then a knock at the door, announces that Neji is there. Sakura stiffens a little and has to consciously relax herself in order to make a relatively welcoming looking smile as she goes to answer it. Although Hinata quickly and completely forgave Neji as soon as he made the slightest overture of apology to her, Sakura has not really gotten over his blunt voicing of the common opinion that alphas were inherently superior, not to mention calling her and Naruto losers.

 _Man, only Hinata-chan would so quickly forgive a guy who not only ridiculed her in front of everyone but straight up tried to murder her._

"Hello, welcome, Neji-san."

"Thank you very much for inviting me to your home, Sakura-san." Neji speaks formally and correctly as usual. "Dinner smells truly de—"

He cuts off and his jaw actually drops slightly as his gaze fixes on Hinata's back, scooping the stir-fry into a serving dish. "Hinata-sama… Hinata-sama is cooking?"

Hinata places the dish on the lazy susan with a nervous smile. "Good evening, Neji-ni-san. I… I, ah… Sakura-chan t-taught me how to cook… it's n-nothing special, but—"

"Her cooking is already better than mine, she's just modest," Sakura cuts her off, unwilling to let Hinata denigrate herself before her cousin. "Won't you have a seat, Neji-san? Hinata-chan has everything prepared."

The branch heir prodigy sits silently in the proffered seat, and for the first few minutes, the conversation is mere stilted, ritual communications about the food (delicious) and the weather (nice for the time of year). Then Sakura steels up her nerve to bring up the topic that she invited Neji over for. "So, Neji-san, Hinata-chan has been learning medical techniques from Tsunade and me. She's very talented at it and her Byakugan is a real asset when it comes to diagnosing chakra-related conditions."

Neji gives what looks like a sincere smile across the table at Hinata. "That doesn't surprise me. Healing surely suits Hinata-sama's kind nature."

Sakura grits her teeth for a moment but suppresses her urge to overreact. On the face of it, there's nothing wrong with what he's said, she just doesn't like the call back to his speech at the chuunin exams about Hinata's nature. "Well, you may know that Tsunade-sama is trying to increase the number of medic-nins who go out on missions, with the eventual goal of having a medic-nin on every team? Of course, advanced skills are not achievable without perfect chakra control, but we've set an internal target of having 25% of chuunins and jounins being competent with basic medical jutsu within five years."

"How interesting," says Neji politely.

Sakura pushes on. "Yes, and of course, after seeing how well Hinata's doujutsu worked with medical jutsu, I thought that more Hyuugas should be trained. However, Tsunade-shishou didn't feel that it would be possible to convince the clan of this, but she told me I could try." She doesn't mention that it was more like _Ha! You're welcome to try!_ "So I thought I would start with you."

That blank eyed stare is still so disconcerting. "I believe that on my team, Tenten would be better suited to learning such a thing. I had already intended to suggest to her that she learn, so I will be sure to mention it the next time I see her, Sakura-san."

She shunts off her desire to clock him onto Inner Sakura and says, only a little stiffly, "Why would Tenten be better suited than you? She is also a taijutsu specialist. Why would your clan be unwilling to do medicine anyway? Don't you make ointments?"

"In my clan, traditionally it is the women who make the ointments."

Sakura slams her open palm down on the table, not adding any chakra to it, but even so the whole table shakes violently and only the ninja reflexes of her dining companions prevent their dishes from toppling onto the floor. "Well your clan traditions are stupid!"

Hinata covers her gasp, but after a pause, Neji merely says, "…agreed."


	8. Chapter 8

"According to the traditional 'best practices' protocol in Konoha…" Sakura always began this way when she intended to give the message _I think this is bullshit but I'm supposed to say it_. "..the official recommendation for pregnancy weight gain is seven to twelve kilograms. That may work for small-framed civilian women, but kunoichi have such low body fat percentages to begin with that I have to recommend twelve kilograms minimum weight gain. Generally if you eat according to your body's signals and choose nutritious food you will be alright, so I'm not going to suggest drawing up any kind of intentional plan yet. Ginger and small meals as first response to nausea and vomiting, if that doesn't adequately deal with it we can discuss other options. A lot of women I see say they like to eat cold noodles and fruit, and drink tea. It's important to stay hydrated. You'll continue to be weighed at future appointments. If you're on a trend that suggests a final weight gain of over twelve kilograms and it's not me who's weighing you, that person might give you crap. Just look apologetic, nod, and ignore it."

Kurenai-sensei laughs. "I can do that."

"You're already supplementing folic acid, which is good…" Sakura looks at the chart again. "Hmm, I think that's everything for diet. Alright, a lot of women… and men… want to know about sex during pregnancy." Sakura's cheeks tinge a bit pink, but she resolutely continues in her professional medic voice. "For ordinary people it's perfectly fine to have sex or not throughout all three trimesters as long as the position doesn't hurt, there are no cervical complications, and the amniotic sac hasn't broken. However, as an omega bonded to an alpha, you should…" She pauses to take a breath and her cheeks redden even more. "…be having sex as much as possible… because of the chakra sharing done through sex… which should help with all kinds of pregnancy symptoms… which is why bonded women usually have easier pregnancies!" She ends this with an unconsciously triumphant note, that she has managed to get through the topic of encouraging Kurenai-sensei to bang Asuma-sensei without anything worse than a heated face.

Kurenai-sensei smiles as if she wants to say something teasing but is refraining, for which Sakura can only be grateful.

"Alright! I think that's everything for the first visit… I assume you want Asuma here for the chakra visualization. Is he in Konoha?"

"He's almost here," she says confidently.

Sakura frowns and reaches out with her chakra but senses nothing clearly identifiable as Asuma in the crowded hospital and nearby city. But only moments later, she sees his tanned face at the window. Kurenai-sensei reaches over and opens it to let him in.

"Did I make it in time? Did she do it yet?" he asks with more excitement in one sentence than Sakura thinks she's seen from him in all the times she's seen him prior put together, including his wedding (where he looked happy but frozen, like a man who's been told he's won the lottery and he just _can't believe_ it).

"Sakura-chan waited to do it last, don't worry."

Sakura hovers one hand over Kurenai's abdomen and the other over an unfurled scroll and closes her eyes. With the uncomplicated chakra signatures and systems of civilians, this is easy, but kunoichi can be a challenge. "Ninja Art: Burning Yin Reflection."

She sends a pulse of yin release chakra into Kurenai, then instantly recalls it. Now comes the tricky part of mentally perceiving this three dimensional communication of the state of Kurenai's uterus, transforming that into useful two dimensional images, and using the technique to burn these images into the paper. Sakura exhales as her other hand slowly moves over the rolled out scroll.

"This is the baby," she says at last, pointing to the first image. The two teachers crowd eagerly over. "It's enlarged, of course. The fetus is actually smaller than a grape at this point, but if you look closely, you can see the bitty fingers and toes. I always think that's pretty cute, even though they're otherwise pretty funny looking at this stage." She grins. "This dot here will become an ear…"

When she finishes the appointment, she leaves the happy couple in possession of the scroll and reports to Tsunade, who needs to know the medical fitness of her shinobi.

"And what would be your recommendation?" the Hokage asks when Sakura has finished reporting.

"She's perfectly fit to do anything in terms of ability at this point. Risk management is a matter of her choice—and of course yours, shishou," she hastens to add. "I think training and teaching would be the best use for her skills at the lowest risk, but non-combat missions would also be very low risk."

"Hn. I agree. I'll give her another genin team; I'll put together one of all genjutsu types for her. And she can continue working with her previous team and—" She pauses. "You're a genjutsu type. You should squeeze in lessons with her too—in all your copious spare time, I know. She can do that for you instead of the omega training she's been doing. You'll have learned all you can from her on that subject by now anyway."

"I do have a question, shishou…" Sakura hesitates. "When I asked Kurenai-sensei if Asuma was coming, she said, 'He's almost here.' Not 'he should be here soon' or anything like that. And when she said that, I tried to see if I could sense him, but I sensed nothing, and suddenly he was literally right at the window. And I still couldn't identify him. Do I need to work on my chakra signature sensing more?"

"Kurenai is actually a sensor type, not a genjutsu type, but that's complicated and beside the point. Come now, Sakura. I may not explicitly have taught you this, but surely if you think about it a little you can guess?"

Sakura blinks. "Something to do with… the chakra sharing?"

"Yes. Because the bond is…?"

"As far as is known, the bond is chakra from the bondmate stored… somehow… outside of the normal chakra path system, in the other systems of the body… particularly the reproductive system… and sealed with the bond mark… somehow."

"Nice hedging."

Her student frowns. "Well, Tsunade-shishou, no one really knows anything about how it works."

"If we can ever get true peace, Sakura, maybe we'll be able to dedicate medical research to something that isn't a weapon or even a treatment but simply a curiosity. For the time being, that's what we're stuck with. In any event, the lived experience of the bonded is that… _somehow…_ " Tsunade mischievously leans on the word like Sakura did. "…they are able to sense many things about their bondmate. Proximity and physical and emotional state, mostly."

"So you know if your bondmate is alive… but then why doesn't the mark disappear when the mate dies?"

"I'm arguing from results backwards to methods, but it must be the other way around. You have some kind of connection to your chakra in them, rather than their chakra in you telling you something."

"So when the mate dies, how does it—" She stops herself too late, seeing the pain flicker across the Hokage's face.

"I would compare it to an amputation," the woman says simply, and reaches for her sake drawer.

Sakura bows herself out, knowing from experience that when Tsunade has _that_ expression, she will quickly and purposefully drink herself into oblivion.

She has nowhere to be now, really. It's lunchtime, she should eat. For some reason, she remembers how Kakashi-sensei would block her from throwing out a half-finished bento, or even pop out of nowhere to insist that she order something bigger at a food stand, during the time before the trip to the Land of Waves.

"Kunoichi don't need to diet." "Sakura. The noise of your stomach is bothering me. You should order the medium bowl at least." "Your body is your finest tool as a shinobi, do not damage it by starving it or filling it with garbage." That last one directed also at Naruto, who would grin obliviously. Sasuke-kun never needed that kind of scolding…

"Sakura."

Sakura turns around, startled by the very much not intoxicated voice of the Hokage.

With a bright smile, Tsunade says, "That little brat Naruto is back!"

—

On his thirteenth birthday, Kakashi had a charcoal grey left eye and an unmarked neck.

On his fourteenth birthday, Kakashi had a red left eye and a pale blue circle on his throat, but the sources of each were dead.

A little over a month after that, he was standing beside Danzo watching some of the reconstruction happening in Konoha. An ANBU mask was on his face, but the disgust was evident in his voice when he said, "So much destruction and Hokage-sama is prioritizing rebuilding _that_?"

Even though Danzo was keen to keep him turned against the Hokage, he had surprised the teen by saying, "Men need distractions in times like these."

A bit of paper taped to the door said "Pink Bookstore" with a little hand-drawn heart, and then "over 18 only" under that.

The next day, Kakashi entered the store, still wearing his ANBU mask, rightly guessing that the proprietor would not challenge his identity. That man paused in his work of assembling a shelf.

"Welcome, ANBU-san," said the man respectfully. "Ah, most of our usual merchandise was destroyed, but there were some boxes in the storage room that made it through alright. We received a shipment this morning and should be getting more soon. I'm happy to special order whatever you need if we don't have it in stock."

Kakashi frowned at a box of lime green dildos, then walked over to the only assembled and loaded shelf, which contained a mix of shrink-wrapped manga and light novels. He crossed his arms as he skimmed the covers, then said bluntly, "Do you have anything less rapey?"

The owner's eyes widened a bit at the obviously youthful voice, but still didn't challenge him. "Less… rapey?"

"The girls on these covers all look terrified or miserable." Kakashi pointed to one in the lower left. "That one is unconscious."

"Well, it's fantasy."

"It isn't mine."

Youthful or not, there was a dangerous edge to the masked teen's voice that even a civilian couldn't miss. The owner scrambled to think of something to assuage him. "Oh! I know what you'll like then! It's a new release, but I think it'll be just what you want—very popular—characters are shinobi, even—written by the legendary Jiraiya-sama!"

The teen accepted the softcover book and examined the cover critically. _Icha Icha Paradise._ The girl was running away from the man, yes, but it actually looked like she was laughing. Without asking permission, he slit open the shrink wrap and opened to the first page.

 _"Junko—please—you can't—I know I'm not him, but please, please don't leave—"_

 _"It's nothing to do with you, Tadao." His childhood friend's round, creamy breasts bounced as she hefted a full suitcase onto a scroll and quickly performed the handseals to store it away. "I can't stay here another day. I need to move on. You can find someone else to spy on at the onsen."_

 _He had a brief, crazy vision of wrapping her in his arms and showing her just how much he wanted to do more than just watch her… "None of them are as hot as you," he attempted to joke, and ducked just in time to avoid the blow that cracked the wall._

 _"You ass," she snarled, but with a certain amount of affection in her big brown eyes and a twitch at the corner of her scarlet lips. She actually let the twitching turn into a soft, sad smile, and his heart crumbled. "Tadao. It's not you that I'm leaving. Please try to understand. This place has become my hell. I need to find my paradise."_

He bought the book and stayed up late into the night reading it and then going back to reread earlier parts in light of later chapters. Nothing could compare to that first wondrous read—going into it totally unprepared for all the plot twists, the humour, the heartbreak, the emotional climax, and the happy ending. It had action. It had suspense. It had _amazing_ smut.

Kakashi was awakened the next day, still in his clothes and with a ridge in his face from where he had fallen asleep on the book, by an ANBU summons. He stuck the book in his rumpled pocket and pulled on his mask.

He never leaves his apartment without an Icha Icha book from that point on.

And the first read of any new instalment is always a precious experience. He never gets tired of rereading, but only once does he get to enjoy the thrill of surprise.

So when Naruto places _Icha Icha Tactics_ in his hands, only elite ninja skills and selfless devotion to Konoha keep him there, forcing himself to listen to Jiraiya-sama talking about the Akatsuki, instead of whether this book will resolve the love polyhedron from the last book between Princess Yui, her royal fiance, her royal fiance's bastard half-brother, her loyal peasant bodyguard, her shy tutor, and of course Jin, the repentant criminal who switched sides to help Tadao and Junko rescue Yui-hime in the previous book.

"Sexy no Jutsu!" calls out Konohamaru.

Kakashi doesn't even look up. Really, the best choice for Yui-hime is clearly Toranosuke, the bastard, who ought to be inheriting the kingdom instead of his arrogant, cowardly brother—

"Pervy new ninjutsu? Are you kidding me right now?! This is what you do within minutes of seeing me for the first time in years?! _What about that warm feeling of admiration I had for you just now, Naruto?!_ "

Kakashi's eye widens as Konohamaru cowers behind him. Sakura somehow managed to pull off, in the heat of her temper, a precise blow that sent Naruto flying across the road yet did almost no actual damage—the kyuubi's healing powers wiped it away before she had even finished her rant, but even an ordinary person wouldn't have felt it much. Even so, he sighs and speaks up as Sakura shakes Naruto by the shoulders. "Now now, Sakura-chan… calm down, you're scaring poor Konohamaru-kun."

"Jiraiya…" The Hokage says wearily, "don't tell me Naruto has gotten more and more like you…?"

"Beauty, strength, and a killer temper… seems like you've raised your own second Tsunade…" murmurs the Sage, wincing.

"Right, nostalgia time is over. Kakashi!"

Regretfully, he shuts the book and faces his former students. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

In the pause that follows, undistracted by Icha Icha, he takes a moment to appreciate just how much they really have grown. Especially Naruto, who even in his slouchy posture is now significantly taller than Sakura, who herself is taller than she was when he left.

"You'll be on my team from now on. But it won't be the same as before. We're not sensei and student; we are equals as Konoha shinobi. All the same…" He dangles the bells casually from his fingers, and though he keeps his expression serious, he enjoys the challenging, confident smiles that slowly creep onto their faces. "…it'll be good to see how you've grown. With the same rules as last time… come at me with intent to kill."

—

Sakura gathers her chakra as she looks for Kakashi-sensei. _Not to the right… not above… not to the left… not behind… then…_

"Below!" Sakura screams, thrusting her fist down and releasing it all in a thousandth of a second.

The field erupts, boulders flying into the air, a fissure opening up from the localized earthquake. She feels a flare of chakra behind her indicating that she's definitely startled Naruto but she doesn't bother to turn and look because she can see Kakashi-sensei.

She can see his face, wide-eyed and sweating.

His _frightened_ face.

She. Scared. Hatake. Kakashi.

The look of fear doesn't last long, of course, but it switches to concentration, which is almost as exhilarating. She's given him something to think about, shannaro!

"Kaka-sensei, I found you," she says in a cheeky voice.

 _No more omega in distress! Get ready for the OMEGA TSUNADE!_

—

Kakashi leans against a tree trunk in real exhaustion, with only Obito's eye open.

He'd expected to have to use the sharingan, but not anywhere near this much.

He'd also expected this to basically be a one on one battle with Naruto, with Sakura only good for attempted distraction. That had swiftly turned out to be a massive miscalculation.

Of course, she ought to have hidden that massive strength to unleash it upon him at a later time, not simply blown apart the ground to find him. If she had waited for his attack and then countered with what would have appeared to be a simple taijutsu punch, he would have blocked, rather than dodged, and then…

…he'd probably be unconscious in the hospital right now with nurses picking bits of Minato-sensei's bells out of his scrotum.

Still. All that meant was that she needed a strategist in her squad to direct her talents… like himself.

Thinking about how he could use her in real battle was a distraction he couldn't afford right now though. Just like the distraction of the book in his pocket. Opening it at all had been a mistake. If only he could have at least finished the chapter.

He leaps up and frowns as he detects their obvious head-on attack. It's such a poor move, that it has to be the cover for something more subtle, but neither of them are particularly subtle, and he can't detect anything—

"Sensei! At the end of _Icha Icha Tactics_ , the surprise twist is—"

"No! No spoilers!" Kakashi claps his hands over his ears and is horrified as his mind translates the movements of Naruto's lips against his own will.

 _"that the main character is really—"_

He squeezes both eyes shut and an instant later feels it.

They've got the bells.

He reopens his eyes, and his students are so happy, simply, wonderfully, adorably pleased. As if this is really all just a game they play together for fun.

Kakashi lets himself feel it too as he laughs.

—

"See you soon, Tsunade-shishou!"

As her master and Iruka-sensei say goodbye, the massive form of Jiraiya-sama suddenly body flickers into existence before them to have hushed arguments with both Tsunade-shishou and Naruto.

Man, it had been embarrassing for her to discover that the weirdo who made that bizarre speech to her on the hospital roof two and half years back, was actually _Jiraiya-sama_ _the Sannin._

Aren't there any powerful people who are _normal?_ Even Tsunade-shishou drinks herself unconscious more days than not.

As for the third member of the Sannin… well, at least the other two don't have an insanity that hurts others like his does… an insanity that infected Sasuke-kun like a disease. No, Sasuke-kun was already infected with the insanity from his brother Itachi… Orochimaru just made it worse.

An infection that will prove terminal in six months, unless they can rescue him first.

Team Kakashi discusses the Sasuke situation as they dash to Suna, and Sakura reveals some of the details of the research she did on the Akatsuki and Itachi.

How dare anyone call Naruto a monster when true monsters like Itachi and Orochimaru were out there?

Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke-kun, and Naruto have all saved her life before. Now she's become a healer and a fighter, someone the great Tsunade-hime praised.

If her embrace could stop the curse seal in the Forest of Death, then surely with her skills now she can save Sasuke-kun… To save and protect her precious people is the most important thing… no, the _only_ thing that matters at all.

—

Kakashi hunches over in the windswept grass, straining to keep his focus on the similarly hunched figure of Sakura over the Kazekage's body.

The pain in his overused sharingan eye radiates to the rest of his overworked body, but that's not what's most distracting. He can't stop his brain from attempting to make connections, though it seems like even thinking hurts right now.

Gaara's devotion to his village, through Naruto, also devoted to a village that once hated him, also a jinchuuriki, also given this fate by a father. A father who was also a Kage. A father… Kakashi's father, and Chiyo's loss of control when she thought he was the White Fang. Control. One tail. Nine tails. Refraining from killing. Itachi could have killed three years ago but did not…

Sakura says nothing, but her expression as she rises up says it all. The Kazekage is beyond saving.

Sakura… the earth splitting open beneath her fist. The poison rising out of Kankarou's body into her hand. Kankarou, a son of the royal family of Suna. A conservative place—a throwback.

Only members of one family become Kage. Laws about omegas like Sakura are the same as a hundred years ago. Forbidden to become shinobi—restrictions on unbonded female omegas because of the "destablizing influence" of heats—omegas forbidden to head clans due to "passive and easily fooled" nature—

An entire society underestimating omegas… underestimating jinchuurikis… assuming the future based on the past… the difference between Gaara and Naruto was…

Naruto rails against the unfairness of the fate of a jinchuuriki. Against those who chose to seal the tailed beast inside an unconsenting child, and then call that child a monster. Naruto rails against himself, unable to save Sasuke or Gaara.

Sasuke and Gaara. Their match. Chidori. Orochimaru. Akatsuki. Sharingan.

A hum of power from Chiyo's hands manages to break the swirling thoughts in Kakashi's mind.

"Chiyo-baa-sama, that jutsu!" cries Sakura.

He opens Obito's eye.

—

Sakura awakens to the sound of metal scraping on metal. She opens her eyes, blinks, wipes the sleep out of them as she regards Tenten, sharpening her kunai in the the eerie light of dawn.

"Good morning. Sleep well?"

"Well enough." She stretches and throws off the blankets. Her flesh comes out in goosebumps as she hurries to dress. The desert gets so cold overnight.

"There was a note shoved under the door for you," says Tenten, setting aside one kunai and picking up the next. "Not folded. Kankurou wants you to have breakfast with him."

"With me? Why?"

"Dunno. Maybe to thank you for saving his life?"

"Oh. I guess so. He did kinda forget to do that before." She picks up the note off the table and scans it. "Alright. I'll do that. See you soon."

"See you."

There is a spread of traditional Suna breakfast foods, and Kankarou rises as the servant shows her in. "Good morning, Sakura-san. I hope you slept well. Would you prefer tea without milk?" He speaks stiffly, in a formal and old-fashioned way, not in his usual rough fashion. It's a weird reminder that he is the son of the Kazekage, trained in etiquette and diplomacy, and in their past encounters had been _choosing_ to speak to her and the other Konoha ninjas roughly.

"Uh, yes, thanks," she says, taking a seat. "You don't have to speak formally to me, Kankurou-sama."

"Well, if I'm going to speak like this, I guess you should drop the honorific then," he says with an awkward laugh. "These buns have lamb in them and this bread is sesame… cheese… hard boiled eggs… grapes… I mean those you would know… then this is salted tongue, it's a bit of an acquired taste but it's Gaara's favourite so it's always served." He shrugs. "Hope you don't mind eating local. I like foreign food myself. When I was in Konoha for the exams…" He pauses, obviously remembering that this is a touchy subject, but then pushes on regardless. "…I had hamburger steak at a restaurant there, I thought it was really great. And I like rice too."

"This is fine," she says politely, taking a lamb bun and some grapes onto her plate as he serves her a cup of tea, leaving out the milk and salt that is customarily added in Suna.

They eat silently for a few minutes, then Kankurou coughs and says, "Uh, so Temari pointed out to me that I never actually thanked you for saving my life, which… is terrible, so, thank you, and also I'm sorry. I was just so focused on saving Gaara."

Her tongue is still burning from the spiciness of the one bite she took of the lamb bun. She rolls some hard-boiled egg yolk around on her tongue as if it can take away the taste, swallows, and says, "I wasn't offended. My shishou told me my first week that if a medic-nin needs gratitude, she'll never make it a month."

"Aa." He sets an empty skewer down on his plate and starts the process of refilling his tea cup. "Still. The assistance from Konoha… from all of you… it's not something we can begin to repay, so to be ungrateful on top of that…"

"We just want to work towards a future where our villages can assist each other in friendship," she assures him. "Friends don't tally up debts."

"But a friendship where one side always takes advantage of the other can't last."

"I think it's the responsibility of the strong to protect the weak, and to help them to become strong themselves if they can't."

"Hn. The Will of Fire, right?" He shakes his head, though in a resigned rather than contemptuous way, and takes a sip of tea.

"Is there a Will of Wind?"

"Yeah, but we don't carry on and on about it like you Leaf nin do." He sighs. "The Land of Wind isn't like the Land of Fire, right? We have very little arable land, not much water either. Not a lot of spare energy to burn with love or whatever it is you do. The Will of Wind is to always continue, to never stop. Although you could say that we've gone against it by founding Suna in the first place. It goes back to when the people of Wind lived a nomadic lifestyle."

"Sasori said that he wouldn't care even if his own grandmother died. Chiyo-baa-sama said that the traditions and customs of Suna made him that way… "

"Familial bonds are…" Kankarou trails off and laughs awkwardly. "Well. Naruto certainly has changed things a lot already, huh? Wouldn't be surprised if he ends up changing everything."

"Yeah," says Sakura quietly, staring at her plate, thinking of how Naruto could be so stupid and so wise at the same time.

They are quiet again for a while, and then when Sakura is just about to excuse herself to pack, Kankarou suddenly says, "Ah, by the way… could you ah… tell your friend Ino that I said hello?"

"Uh, sure."

"She's doing well?" He had attached chakra strings to a little set of seasoning shakers and was distractedly making them dance around in a circle.

"I think so."

He coughs. "That's good… so… tell her I said hello."

"…right."

She excuses herself and runs into Team Guy, minus Guy, in the hall.

"Good morning Sakura-san!" Lee gives her a thumbs up. "You are blooming like a fresh bud of spring in this ancient desert!"

She resists rolling her eyes with some difficulty. "Thanks, Lee-san."

He leans forward suddenly and she flinches. "Sakura-san! I cannot decide! For your birthday, would you prefer me to wash your floor while doing handstands, or sharpen your shuriken while doing jumping jacks?"

 _Neither, please!_ "Uh… I guess the floor one sounds… less… puncture-y…"

A double thumbs up, so he really was determined. "Your floors will shine like… like…"

"Like your teeth?" suggests Neji dryly.

"Like Guy-sensei's smile!"

"Why don't you see if Guy-sensei has worked out the departure details with Kakashi-sensei, Lee?" Tenten says hastily, just managing to avert a flood of tears from her teammate.

"Excellent thinking Tenten-san! I know I can be of assistance!"

Tenten sighs. "When's your birthday, Sakura?"

"Two days from now," she says, "so I guess I'll turn sixteen running."

"You guess wrong," says Neji. "Guy-sensei will make us get there by tomorrow morning."

"Impossible. Not even he would… Neji-kun, Kakashi-sensei is badly hurt!" Tenten objects.

"Tomorrow morning," he repeats firmly. "Just watch. Tenten, we should get to the meeting point."

"I'll see you soon," says Sakura, dashing back to her room for her things.

—

"I'm fine," moans Kakashi.

Guy briskly yanks off his friend's pants. "Nonsense, rival! You cannot give due honour to our determined farewell in clothes you have fought and slept in! You should have called me in last night to assist you. Then we would have had time to shower you!"

At those words, Kakashi immediately flips from feeling sorry to himself to thanking whatever neglectful guardian spirit he has for not abandoning him entirely. Guy drapes Kakashi over his shoulder bonelessly, and hefts his fellow jounin into a fresh pair of pants much like one would bag a very large loaf of bread.

"Oof," groans Kakashi as he is flopped back onto the bed. Guy narrows his eyes at him.

"You have stubble."

"Mask will cover it."

"Ah yes, your so cool mask! You can always present a youthful appearance with it. If only you would give the suit a try, Kakashi! The freedom of movement…!"

Guy has just finished adjusting his mask when Lee bursts in through the door without knocking. "Good morning, Guy-sensei, Kakashi-sensei! I have come to assist you!"

"No need, Lee-kun! The eternal bond of rivalry between us gives me all the strength I need." Guy lets out a _ha!_ as he slaps Kakashi's sandals closed. Kakashi moans again, but cuts it off with a sharp gasp as he is abruptly yanked off the bed with his arm around Guy's shoulder. "Okay!"

"Guy-sensei…! Amazing…!" whispers Lee.


	9. Chapter 9

Tenten and Sakura limp into their apartment building and Sakura suddenly curses. "Oh, crap. I was supposed to go grocery shopping the evening that we left for Suna. I don't even know if I have instant noodles around."

"I've got stuff," Tenten says, trudging slowly up the stairs in front of her.

"Oh—sorry, I wasn't trying to hint—"

"Don't worry about it. How about you cook us something while I collapse on the floor. I get the better deal."

Sakura can't argue with that. Her legs feel like jelly. "Does Guy-sensei always push you this hard?"

"He only has one setting, unfortunately." Tenten slowly runs through the hand signs to unseal her door. True to her word, as soon as she has her shoes off she collapses bonelessly onto a large floor pillow.

Sakura has never actually been inside Tenten's apartment before, even though they've been living in the same building for a couple months. Although Tenten's always been nice enough and the Konoha 11 girls frequently get together as a group when they're all in the village at the same time, she and Sakura haven't made much of a one-on-one connection. "Wow, this place is so cute!"

It's a one bedroom apartment, rather than a studio like Sakura's, and thus it has an actual living/dining room area. There's a doll house in one corner, posters of kittens and smiling cartoon children saying things like "Let's have fun today!" on the walls, and a well-loved stuffed tiger sitting on another floor pillow. The kotatsu has a vase of fake flowers on it.

"Heh, thanks I guess. I haven't changed anything about it since graduation. No time."

Sakura walks into the small attached kitchen and open the fridge to scan the contents. "You've lived alone that long?"

"I've always lived alone since I aged out of the orphanage," Tenten says matter-of-factly. "I'm not really from Konoha or even the Land of Fire, you know. My parents—I guess—just happened to be traveling here during the fox attack. Other than that they were from the Land of Rice Fields, I don't know anything about them, not even their names. Not even my own name, actually. They asked me my name and I told them 'Tenten.'" She shrugs. "Maybe that was a nickname, or maybe I didn't understand the question, who knows. It's the only name I have now."

Sakura fills a pot with water, whisks in dashi powder, and places it on the stove to boil, then pulls tofu out of the fridge to chop up. "I'm sorry."

"Eh. It's a common story, really. Lee was part of the same group of travelers, although his mother stayed conscious long enough to at least tell them his correct name and age. They hadn't found me yet at that point, so they didn't know to ask about me. Really, it could be a lot worse. At least Konoha gives us a place to live and money to eat like this. And if we had made it back to the Land of Rice Fields, who's to say we wouldn't have been slaughtered in their wars? I mean, the Land of Rice Fields doesn't even exist anymore. I'd much rather be a Leaf nin than a Sound nin!"

"That's true…" Sakura sniffs at a container of cold rice, decides it smells alright, and decides to make some quick fried rice to go with the miso soup.

The girls don't talk further as Sakura finishes fixing the meal, and Tenten groans as she pulls herself up and over to the kotatsu when it's ready. "I nearly fell asleep. Thank you so much for cooking, Sakura. So glad on so many levels to be out of Suna. That place is terrible. Did you know when we were waiting for Kakashi to be recovered enough to go home, one of their chuunin actually tried to hit on me by telling me that I'm so beautiful, I must make a lot of money for the Leaf on seduction missions?! The way he was leering at me—the way he thought I would be flattered! I was tempted to take out a kunai and make him a soprano." She gestures with her spoon as if it were a kunai. "'Wachow! _That's_ how I make money for the Leaf, asshole!' What a creep. Itadakimasu."

"Itadakimasu." Sakura frowns. She's seen for herself Tsunade-shishou stamping the rare mission request that involved seduction _Rejected, With Prejudice_ and snarling things like "Let them get their rigged divorce evidence from some other village. Our kunoichi have better things to do." For some reason, it had never clicked that "some other village" meant that other hidden villages _did_ accept those missions. If a Sand nin talked about them so casually, perhaps those missions weren't even rare…

"Well, at least one thing has changed for the better. I was talking with Temari-sama and she said after Lee's performance in the last chuunin exams, their council was persuaded to allow students who can't do ninjutsu to attend their academy. Gaara-sama has been doing all he can to modernize but their council is even worse than ours I guess. They'd better listen to him now, after he literally died for Suna."

When Sakura's just finishing the last bit of her fried rice, a slug pops into existence on her table, and Tenten shrieks.

"Excuse my interruption," says the tiny Katsuyu politely, "Tsunade-sama's messenger bird found Sakura-san's apartment empty, so I was asked to find Sakura-san, because Tsunade-sama is in a hurry."

"Please tell Tsunade-shishou I'll be right there, Katsuyu-sama."

The slug pops away, and Tenten wrinkles her nose at the slug-shaped spot of goo on her table.

"Scrape that off and save it," Sakura says as she rushes over to get her shoes, "it's great for injuries."

—

Kakashi doesn't like hospitals.

For one thing, being in a hospital means something went wrong. If Kakashi is in the hospital and has to stay there, something went _really_ wrong. Usually, that includes another person being dead. The worst is when he can't even sit up and read _Icha Icha,_ and has nothing to distract him from the perfectly recalled memories that are the blessing and curse of the Sharingan.

Moreover, being in the hospital means terrible sleep. He can't relax in a hospital. His body reacts to the constant shuffle of people and wakes him up over and over to check for danger. So the medics sedate him, but he can't stop from panicking that he's under attack every time he feels the pharmaceutical tide pull him under.

Even the scent of hospitals is terrible. There's the memory association with all the other times he's been in the hospital, of course, but it's also _too_ clean of a scent. Kakashi likes spaces to be clean and tidy, but not to this extent. Hospitals are sterile and lifeless, dead places.

It's been a while since he smelled Tenzou's confusing personal blend of nervous sweat, cedar, chrysanthemums, and chestnuts. This time the sweat predominates with a good helping of travel detritus. He closes _Icha Icha_ and crinkles his eye at the younger man. "Yo."

"Kakashi-sempai, good morning." He takes a seat next to the hospital bed. He's obviously come straight from the mission. "I have to report mission failure."

"Failure? You couldn't find Sasuke?"

"Oh no, we found him, but we couldn't bring him back. The fight was a non-starter. We didn't know where to begin to fight even just him, let alone him and Orochimaru together."

"No one was killed?"

"Only minor injuries, sempai."

"Then I think the mission was as successful as it could be. I want to know everything. Not just the battles. How they worked together. What they said to each other and what you said to them, and what Sasuke said and the way he said it. As close to verbatim as possible."

Yamato talks, with Kakashi interrupting here and there with requests for clarification.

"Then Naruto began sobbing. Sakura said that crying wouldn't bring back Sasuke. That the two of them had to bring Sasuke back together. And then Sai added in that three was better than two. That seemed to console Naruto enough to stop crying."

"How did they say it? Verbatim."

Yamato frowns, then mimics their voices with his uncanny accuracy. "'Crying won't bring Sasuke back. You and I have to be strong. Together.'" He shifts his voice to what must be an imitation of Sai's. 'There's still six months left. Three will have a better chance than two, and I'm already pretty strong…'"

"And Naruto didn't say anything?"

"No, he stopped crying while Sakura was talking, and after Sai trailed off, he stayed down on the ground a few moments more, but then got up. Then we left for Konoha on my command, without any real discussion."

Kakashi runs over a few things in his mind, seeing which puzzle pieces fit together and which have strange bumps and missing edges. _Sai disobeyed Tenzou's explicit command to save Sakura… why? Tenzou told me without telling me that Sai is Root, that he had some other mission instruction than retrieving Sasuke, and that Naruto influenced him somehow… how would Sakura be involved in that… Opportunistic attempt to reduce the number of people who might interfere with the ulterior mission, something more?_ "I have more to ask you. But not here and now."

Tenzo nods. Finding a place to discuss certain aspects of ROOT will be easier outside of Konoha.

"I have an idea for how to train Naruto, and I'll need your help."

—

Sakura pulls _The Effects of Medications: Short and Long Term Adverse Effects and Interactions_ off the shelf with a sigh. This is the only book in the library that is at all relevant that she hasn't read yet, and from flipping through it earlier, it seemed outdated. But she is desperate to find some clue, any clue, to figuring out how Sasuke-kun became the vicious, immensely powerful fighter they faced, and how to catch up with and save him.

Sai is sitting at a table with a stack of books, and Sakura braces herself to make an effort to be friendly. It isn't his fault that he is so like Sasuke and yet so unlike him at the same time. She needs to build rapport with him.

"Looking at art books?"

He looks up, his Sasuke-like pale face set off by his very un-Sasuke drab black hair, hanging flat and close to his skull. "Sakura-san…"

"So you're a bookworm too, huh?" she says as she takes a seat across from him.

He actually gets the faintest hint of colour across his cheekbones. "Sometimes…"

She glances down at the books, and feels a pang when she sees that they're all about social skills and making friends. _Poor thing._

He accepts her invitation to go to the hospital to see Kakashi-sensei, and they meet up with Naruto where he sits brooding on the steps between a pair of horned lion-dog statues.

"Why is _he_ here," Naruto growls.

"We met up at the library."

"I thought this was going to be just the two of us, Sakura-chan! Like a date -ttebayo!"

"Naruto, if we have time for a date, we should spend it learning ninjutsu instead," she rebukes him severely. How can he be thinking of dates at a time like this?

"Study, study, study! It's like you want to live at the library," he whines.

"The brain needs to be trained just as much as the body! Maybe if you spent a little more time at the library, you wouldn't be such an idiot!"

"Sakura-chan!" His whole body droops. "Don't say stuff like that!"

"N-naruto… Sakura…"

They both turn in surprise, not least because Sai didn't use -san. Sai has that faint colour just tinging his cheeks again. "Can I join the conversation?"

They both stare at him. It's such an awkward way to put it.

"Uh… um… I read in a book… about getting to know people… to drop the suffixes or use nicknames… so that you can feel close and become friends easily…"

"Hehe, Sai! Who'da thought you'd care about that stuff!"

"But I can't come up with any good nicknames."

"You don't come up with nicknames, they happen naturally dattebayo!"

"Well, I suppose you could try to come up with a nickname," says Sakura with a teasing smile. "Usually some characteristic of the person… like Naruto here could be Idiot or Moron."

"Not again, Sakura-chan!" groans Naruto while Sai furrows his brow in concentration.

Sai looks up again and smiles his forced smile. "Thank you for your help, Hag."

"Shannarooooooo!"

She perhaps put a bit too much strength into the swing, since both Naruto and Sai are still rubbing at their swollen faces when they enter Kakashi-sensei's hospital room, enough for their teacher to comment on. She forces an unconvincing laugh. "Ahahaha, it's nothing really! We all get along very well! Hahaha… Naruto?"

"Yeah. Kakashi-sensei, this past mission—"

"Yamato already told me everything about the mission, and about Sasuke." Kakashi-sensei is looking at his open copy of _Icha Icha Tactics_ , scarred eye closed.

Sakura rubs her fingers anxiously along the worn corners of the library book.

"We're running out of time," Naruto grimly says. "Very soon, he's gonna be… and the way we are now, we're not strong enough to bring Sasuke back and… he's just way too strong…"

"Well then… you'll just need to get stronger than him, right?" He says it so casually, still apparently looking at his smut.

Sakura takes a breath. "From what I can tell, Sasuke-kun's rate of development isn't natural. I've been researching, and talking to Tsunade-shishou, and it seems like they might be augmenting his development with forbidden jutsus and drugs. With Kabuto working him, that's what I'd expect… not that I can learn what to expect of how people who experiment on humans think just by reading books like these…"

"So you'll need to get stronger than him at a faster rate."

Her grip on _The Effects of Medications_ tightens a little. "But how, sensei?"

"You don't think I've just been waiting around here sleeping, do you? I've been thinking everything through… and I developed a solution. But it's something that is best for someone like Naruto… or maybe I should say that it will _only_ work for Naruto. If it works… you might even surpass me, Naruto."

Kakashi and Naruto talk, and Sakura tries to listen, but all she can hear is the blood rushing in her ears while Sasuke-kun's voice echoes, _"You're on the same level as Naruto… no, you're even lower than Naruto."_

That there had been a time when she thought that being the same as Naruto was so depressing… and what she wouldn't give now for it to be even close to true…

The door slides open with a bang.

"Asuma-sensei, don't you know you need to knock first?" scolds Ino while Chouji cheerfully greets them all through a mouthful of junk food. Shikamaru rolls his eyes, and Asuma himself, completely ignoring Ino, asks, "How's it going, Kakashi?"

While Sai is properly introduced to Team 10, Ino, that damned mind reader, only has to look at Sakura to know that something's up. She moves casually to her friend's side, but to Sakura's relief, despite the unspoken reassurance in the rub of her shoulder, her whisper is merely, "Wow… that guy's pretty cute, huh? He kinda looks like Sasuke…"

What a relief simple boy talk is right now. "Okay, he might _look_ hot, but wait til you see how he acts. He has zero social skills," Sakura hisses behind her hand.

Ino glances significantly from Naruto (who is talking with Shikamaru) back to Sakura to communicate, _What, worse than Naruto?_

Sakura raises her eyebrows and widens her eyes. _Much worse!_

"Ha," says Ino with a shrug and a certain narrowing of her eyes. _Hmm, I like a challenge…_

"You guys can go ahead to Yakiniku Q. Team Kakashi too!" says Asuma-sensei genially.

As Chouji cheers, Ino grins. "I'm in! I'll sit next to Sai!"

"I need to talk with Kakashi, but I'll still pick up the cheque."

"Wait, but what about the training, Kakashi-sensei?" protests Naruto.

Sakura stiffens ever so slightly, and Ino lets out a very soft "tch" that means _We'll be talking about whatever this is later, Forehead Girl._

Kakashi's heavy lidded eyes are as calm and unhurried as ever. "Mm… well! We'll do it later."

—

Kakashi opens _Icha Icha Paradise_ and leans against one of Tenzou's wooden totems casually, keeping a background awareness of what Naruto and his clones are doing. There's just too many clones to watch them all, perhaps even with the sharingan. He _is_ still recovering, after all.

 _Tactics_ was certainly an excellent read—better than anything that the Ero Ero series had come out with, for sure. But the storyline around Yui-hime lacked the passion that the author had for Junko, the star of the previous two books and a transparently veiled imitation of the current Hokage. Junko's enthusiastic erotic adventures with a variety of partners, culminating in her bond with the equally obviously Jiraiya-based Tadao, were pure, delicious escapism. _Violence,_ in particular, in its action scenes, was everything that kids at the academy imagine that being a ninja will be. Junko and Tadao's cameo scenes in _Tactics_ were all brief and rushed, and Kakashi wondered if writing about the fictional Tsunade having his counterpart's child—something that was now not merely unlikely but impossible—had proved painful for Jiraiya.

 _"My, isn't it hot in here," said Junko with an exaggerated stretch._

 _"What are you doing?" laughed Akiko, watching as her new friend stripped down to her bikini as if she was on stage before a whistling crowd. "You're acting like we're in an AV."_

 _"Do you watch AV, Akiko-chan?"_

 _Akiko's eyes widened and her sweet round face reddened as Junko walked over to her. The taller woman's bounteous breasts were exactly at her eye level. Unconsciously, she ran her pink tongue over her bare lips._

 _"I never would have expected something so lewd from someone so innocent." There was a click as the clasp on the back of the bikini opened. "Or are you that innocent, A-ki-ko-chan~"_

 _With every syllable, the straps on the bikini slid another centimetre off her creamy shoulders until—_

"Yes!" screams one of Naruto's clones, waving around a partially sliced leaf. The other clones bemoan that clone's prowess as he dances around.

 _Already?_

"Kakashi-sensei," calls another clone, running up to him. "I have a question. Isn't there anyone in Konoha who has wind nature too?"

 _Not a bad idea, Naruto._ "You want to get some tips from someone with experience?"

"Yeah!"

"Well, one person certainly jumps to mind. He's probably playing shogi right now. You know him, he teaches your classmates. Asuma-sensei. Do you know where the Nara main house is? I'd try there first. Be careful not to try to cut across their ancestral lands—you won't like what happens. Go through the main entrance from the village."

—

Sakura leaves the infuriating dinner at Yakiniku Q more depressed than ever—it may be petty, but she's in no mood to accept Ino's hints that she'd like to be invited over after Sai calls _her_ Gorgeous—and falls straight into limbo.

She goes home, gets ready for bed, and reaches for her alarm, only to realize she had no reason to set it to anything.

Numbly she sets the alarm down and lets the exhaustion of the mission catch up with her and sweep her off to sleep.

She watches whatever comes on the television all day the next day, eats whatever she happens to have around. She avoids thinking.

Unable to sleep, she looks at her picture of Team 7 in the bright full moon at midnight and sobs.

Their faces… those faces frozen behind the glass… she'll never really see their faces… always their backs, backs, backs… and soon… not even their backs…

A knock at the door and a flare of chakra wakes her up the next morning. She rubs sleep from her eyes, thinking how even Hinata's chakra flare is like her, somehow seemingly embarrassed to put itself forward.

"O-oh! Sakura-chan, I'm sorry." The dark hair falls in front of her face as she makes her bows of apology. "I sh-shouldn't have assumed we would still be meeting—you're tired from your mission and—"

"No, come in Hinata-chan," says Sakura without energy, backing away to let her in.

Hinata clutches her bag of groceries and steps in gingerly, setting the bag down to undo her sandals. "Are you feeling well, Sakura-chan?"

"I'm fine. You wanted to learn how to make tamagoyaki."

Sakura runs Hinata listlessly through the process of making the fluffy omelette, and Hinata watches Sakura.

When they sit down to breakfast, Hinata ventures, "Sakura-chan… you've h-helped me so much… if, if I could help you too…"

Sakura forces a smile as she adds grated daikon radish to her dish. "It's nothing that can be helped, Hinata-chan."

"Please don't be closed off."

Sakura looks up, a bit startled, and Hinata blushes, but continues on with some effort, "I've come to believe… that we get our strength from each other… so won't you let me give you what I can of mine?"

Sakura talks, and Hinata listens. Her wide, pupil-less eyes are usually unnerving, but for some reason they make confession easier, like talking into a soft, forgiving void.

"Do you want advice?" says Hinata when Sakura finishes.

She actually laughs as she shakes her head. "If you have advice, then sure."

"You could train with Kurenai-sensei, she's a very good teacher and I know she's available more often now… or perhaps with Shizune at the hospital… or ask Hokage-sama if she knows of a teacher, perhaps?"

"I can't bother Tsunade-shishou now. She has council issues of some kind; she told me she couldn't train."

"Asking her if she knows someone only takes a moment of her time, Sakura-chan. The worst that could happen is that she tells you to go away, right?"

"Pretty bold of you, Hinata-chan."

"Ha…" The Hyuuga blushes and takes a sip of tea.

"Tsunade-shishou did tell me to train with Kurenai-sensei, but I can't see how I could possibly learn anything from her that would help with Sasuke-kun. Genjutsu doesn't work against the Sharingan."

"Then focus on healing then, so you can heal N-Naruto-kun."

The stumble over Naruto's name brings a sly grin to Sakura's face. "Mm… speaking of N-Naruto-kun…"

The blush deepens.

"…do you want advice?"

"Well… Sakura-chan… Naruto-kun is… that is… I don't know what to s-say… even wh-when he's not here—!"

"It doesn't really matter _what_ you say to Naruto," Sakura says with an eye roll. "He's almost breathtakingly stupid. He loves everyone and he wants everyone to love him. It doesn't matter how mean you are, he still—at least with me he does—"

Hinata is looking sadly to the side, and the index fingers are meeting.

"There isn't anything about me that's so wonderful!" says Sakura. "Really, it's just that he's so stupid he only notices really loud and obnoxious girls like me."

"You aren't obnoxious!"

"I notice you don't deny the 'loud'," Sakura says, then waves away Hinata's apology impatiently. "You just have to _get_ his attention and _keep_ his attention… talk to him about something he _has_ to pay attention to… something that really draws him in, you know!"

"Like what?"

Sakura tries to think of what Naruto is passionate about and unfortunately can only come up with one thing. "Ramen."

"Ramen?"

"Yeah, ask him to Ichiraku, ask him to recommend you a ramen brand, wear ramen as a hat, I don't know. Ramen."

"Ramen," echoes Hinata, frowning.

—

"You've gone by a lot of names, eh Yamato?"

It's a sideways way of bringing up the Root. Tenzou slowly nods, and it appears he understands that even out here, even with the roar of the artificial waterfall and the screams and shouts of Naruto and his clones attempting to cut it, it will be best to be oblique about Danzo. "There's only so much I can say, anyway, sempai."

Ah yes. The sealed tongue. "Sai would find it difficult to discuss as well, then."

A moment. "Yes."

One of Naruto's clones vents his frustration by attempting to punch the waterfall, and the recoil knocks him back off the slippery surface. The others stop momentarily to laugh at his free fall, then flinch as they receive the experience of impact.

"I can tell you what I've learned since I became Yamato," says Tenzou. "Sai's mission was to kill Sasuke, not to bring him back. It was even before we started."

There was a piece here to a puzzle, a puzzle that stretched back before Sasuke, to Itachi and maybe long before that. There was something about Danzo and the Uchiha that didn't make sense with the rest of his personality. He was hellbent on making Konoha militarily powerful, then why would he seek to jump straight to eliminating Sasuke, in such an underhanded way? The loss of the bloodline to Konoha was a considerable blow; someone of Danzo's kind would prioritize that, wouldn't he? And to attempt to ally, however falsely, with Orochimaru…

This was something to think about later, on his own, though, not during his time with Tenzou. "Sai seems… quieter than you. Is it just a matter of… training duration?"

Yamato's jaw works, and he lets out a frustrated sigh. "I really wish I could tell you."

That reveals more than Yamato thinks. Kakashi ponders the matter in silence for a bit until one of Naruto's exuberant attempts at cutting the waterfall results in a spray into the eyes of another clone, at which point all the clones begin an undignified water fight.

"I think that's enough training for now," Kakashi calls. "Let's have dinner."

—

"I can give you five minutes," Tsunade barks. She is stamping documents with her seal with one hand and rubbing her temple with the other.

"Shishou, I understand that you're too busy to train me yourself," Sakura says in a rush. "But I need to train somehow. I can't just sit around like this while—"

"Sit around? You're not putting all your chakra towards your seal?"

"Well, I am of course, but…"

"But what?"

 _But I don't even know if that's doing anything! If Shizune-sempai couldn't form the seal then…_ "I need something more short term, shishou. If the seal took _you_ a decade to form, then—"

"—then you will be able to form it in much less. By the time you are eighteen, Sakura. Maybe even earlier than that."

This completely unexpected vote of confidence in her abilities, delivered in such a matter of fact way, derails Sakura's train of thought, and she stares at her master blankly for a few moments.

"Well? The clock is ticking, Sakura!"

"I need something that will help within a _month_ , please!"

"Train with Kurenai."

"Kurenai-sensei can't help me against the Sharingan."

Tsunade stills, the seal in midair. "Sakura," she says to the document, "if he is…" She screws up her mouth abruptly, cutting off her own sentence, then puts down the seal with a bang. "Alright. I know who you need to train with."

She pushes away from the desk, stands up, and bites her thumb. "Kushiyose no jutsu!"

A portion of Katsuyu, about Sakura's height, appears next to the chuunin. "Yes, Tsunade-sama?"

"Katsuyu-sama, Sakura would like to speak with you."

The slug swivelled its head. "Yes, Sakura-san?"

Well, that was sudden. "Ah… Katsuyu-sama, I would like to… I would be very honoured if you would accept me into a summoning contract with you."

"Ah?" Katsuyu swivelled back to Tsunade. "I thought Tsunade-sama wished for you to not waste chakra unnecessarily at this time."

"This is between you and Sakura," says Tsunade, sitting back down in her chair and tossing Sakura a scroll which she catches only on reflex. Sakura opens it to reveal a summoning contract.

The tiny mouth wriggles. "I am amenable, Sakura-san. It will be pleasant to have a young mistress again."

"Hey! What was that?!"

"A _younger_ mistress, I should say, Tsunade-sama! When shall I return with Sakura-san?"

 _Return? Return from where?_ Sakura spreads the scroll open on the floor, bites her index finger, and squeezes some blood into the space for summoners. She can't help but notice that there seem to be very few names on it.

"I'll summon you. Certainly not longer than a few weeks."

"I beg your pardon, that is not enough time, Tsunade-sama."

"Of course it isn't. Do you think I expect her to become a sage? She can learn enough to assist in protecting her comrades." Tsunade's expression softens. "While you're in the forest, Sakura, collect any healing plants you notice, if you can. It will be good for you to go to Shikkotsu Forest, now that I think of it. It's a healing place."

—

The wild chakra flare jolts Kakashi out of his sleep a full thirty seconds before Kurenai begins smacking wildly at his door. As he rushes over to let her in, he thinks that every shinobi in the building and maybe even the ones nearby must be grabbing at kunai and shuriken.

"Kurenai, what the hell—"

She's still in nightclothes, and her expression is like nothing he's ever seen from her before—manic, her whole body tensed. Kurenai stumbles forward with none of her usual grace, grabbing onto him, and her touch is clammy and shaking. He opens his sharingan eye briefly to check for genjutsu, and discovers that her pulse is racing.

"Asuma, Asuma," she chokes out. "Asuma!"

And then it feels like his own pulse is coming to a stop because he _knows._

She's in bond shock. Asuma is dead.

Flashes of Rin's blood-leaking face and the howling, agonizing emptiness overcome him for a moment and he stumbles down to the floor, Kurenai bawling in his arms, her nails dragging bleeding furrows in his chest and arms that neither of them notice.

"Kurenai," Kakashi says when he's swum his way back to the surface from the abyss of that memory, "why did you come here?"

"Hurts," she whimpers, and Kakashi realizes that it wasn't so much a choice as a blind stumbling across the hall from her apartment to his, desperate for someone to hang onto, unable to think of anything beyond the pain. The Hokage has to be informed immediately. Kakashi doesn't know what mission Asuma was on, but if he's been killed…

He bites his thumb and summons Pakkun.


	10. Chapter 10

Sakura lies supine on a fallen log, limbs hanging limply down, not reaching the ground. It's dawn, but the massive trees block most of the sunlight. After a long night of training, she wants nothing better than to sleep—in the hollow of a gigantic tree, of all the fairy tale things—but the idea of actually chakra walking up the tree to get to the hollow seems insurmountable.

Katsuyu is all over the Forest—enormous Katsuyu, sliding through the forest like a whale through the ocean; tiny Katsuyu, perched with dozens of itself on plants and rocks; and all sorts of sizes in between, such as this Katsuyu that just finished teaching her. This particular Katsuyu is about the size of a moose.

"I must say, Sakura-san, that it is nice to have a mistress who doesn't complain about the dark and the damp and the smell."

"The smell?" Sakura blinks and turns her head towards the right, where the portion of Katsuyu she had personally summoned—about the size of a large dog—is likewise resting. "This forest smells fantastic. Tsunade-shishou didn't like the smell?"

"Mm. She used to mutter some very rude things. I pretended not to hear," Katsuyu titters. "Perhaps that's just her Fire nature, you know. You're Earth, so you feel more at home."

"Huh." Having had her attention drawn to the scent of the forest, Sakura purposely inhales deeply. It rained over night. At the time, Sakura hadn't been too fond of training in pouring cold rain, but now the scent of petrichor is mixing with the pines and cedars, and when the breeze blows just right, it brings with it the scent of night-blooming jasmine from somewhere. _Tsunade is crazy. Can sake kill your sense of smell? That's the only explanation I can think of._ "Is there jasmine nearby, Katsuyu-sama?"

"Yes. Do you want to gather some? I do not know of any medicines incorporating jasmine. I would be honoured to learn, Sakura-san."

"Ah, no," laughs Sakura, with a bit of guilt at asking about something so frivolous. "Just… smells nice."

"Humans like flowers, don't you? I enjoy them very much as well. Some of them are almost as good as lichen." The voice comes from a kitten-sized Katsuyu which slides over her shoulder and down her body, where it attends to some superficial scratching on her knees. Sakura takes in another deep breath and lets it out slowly. Training herself out of her disgust at sudden cold, slimy touches is tough. She tries instead to focus on the cute aspects of Katsuyu—how kind and gentle the slug is; the softness and squishiness of it, like a pudding; its adorable little mouth and the way the eyestalks wiggle.

"We don't eat most of them, but we do like the way they smell."

"I hope the food has been satisfactory for Sakura-san."

"Oh! It's been wonderful, Katsuyu-sama. I've enjoyed hunting here."

"I would prepare something for Sakura-san, but I do not possess limbs." Katsuyu sounds a bit distressed at this failure in hospitality.

Sakura rolls off the log and into a crouch, the tiny Katsuyu hopping nimbly off as she does so. "You've been a marvelous hostess, Katsuyu-sama. Please don't distress yourself. Naruto told me the food on Mt. Myoboku was terrible."

"What can you expect from frogs. Horrible creatures." If slugs had noses, Katsuyu would have sniffed in disdain. "And so noisy too. No consideration."

Sakura runs up the tree. The portions of Katsuyu she had been talking to don't follow her, but that doesn't matter; every piece of her knows what all the pieces know together. She pauses at opening of the hollow to address a cluster of Katsuyu perched on a nearby branch. "Katsuyu-sama, do you ever get lonely here, when Tsunade-shishou isn't summoning you?"

"Lonely?" a few of them say in unison. A single one continues, "I am not like the snakes or the frogs, Sakura-san. It is not in my nature to need others. I don't have young and I don't die; I renew myself continually."

Sakura cannot help but think of Orochimaru jumping from body to body in an attempt at immortality. "Did Orochimaru ever try to… I don't know, solicit your help?"

"He wouldn't dare!" Katsuyu replies vehemently. "Snakes don't stand a chance against me, Sakura-san. Don't you know that? Not even Manda, let alone some… _snake-man._ "

"I don't understand, Katsuyu-sama. Orochimaru used his summons because he couldn't use his other jutsu, I thought, so then why…?" Sakura doesn't know how to phrase it without potentially offending Katsuyu.

"Why was it a difficult fight? Oh, for several reasons, Sakura-san, but you know it would be very troublesome for me if I ever did destroy Manda. The snakes keep the frogs in check."

"The enemy of your enemy?"

"Something like that. It's best for peace to keep a balance. Although Manda is too proud and too short-sighted to think the same way. Perhaps at some point he'll make an end of Gamabunta, and then I'll make an end of him. That's the way his kind die, Sakura-san: it's always ultimately their own greed."

Sakura thinks of Orochimaru again and sighs. Thinking about this now is not a good idea when she's about to try to sleep. "Well, good morning Katsuyu-sama."

"Sleep well, Sakura-san! I think when we practice tonight you should be able to summon a portion of me of your own size, or a little larger. Tsunade-sama will be so pleased with your progress when I report to her tomorrow."

"Thank you, Katsuyu-sama." She closes the flap behind her, strips down, and summons and heats some water into a basin for a quick sponge down before dressing in nightclothes and climbing into her sleeping bag. With a black eyemask tied to block out the light, she drifts off hearing the sounds of birds, and thinking hazy thoughts about balance… she, Naruto, and Sasuke-kun could have been so _balanced…_

—

Kakashi runs his hands over the traditional high, scoop necked funeral shirt, checking for any blemish on it or on the stiff white lining of the collar, before slipping it over his head.

He picks up the white belt and rechecks the time. He never got back to sleep after Kurenai stumbled into his room. He took her to the hospital where the Hokage, looking strangely magnificent in her nightgown and robe, eased the symptoms of shock and questioned her gently but inexorably about what she had sensed about Asuma's fight. Then the rest of Asuma's team and the reinforcements returned, with Asuma's body.

Kurenai had insisted on being allowed to see the corpse, and to Kakashi's surprise Tsunade had agreed immediately. Kakashi ought to have left but he couldn't bring himself to wrench free of Kurenai's grip on his wrist.

She had let him go when the corpse was brought in, bringing its right hand to her face and weeping at the sight of the unmarked palm where her mark used to be.

"Asuma-sensei gave me his last words for you," said Shikamaru, which was the impetus Kakashi needed to get the hell out.

Kakashi ties the white belt, glad that his perpetually tired appearance and the general gloom of a funeral will spare him any particular notice.

The Sharingan memory is like having access to a vast, perfectly collated collection of videos cataloguing every moment of your life, except you're not the only one with access to the remote control, and whoever else has it insists on replaying _Your Worst Memories: Greatest Hits Vol 1 to 100_ at any relevant moment.

The current relevant memories are among the worst.

 _"Kakashi…"_

 _The light leaving her eyes._

 _The blood dripping from his hand._

 _The corpse falling to the ground._

 _The physical agony, the dissociation, the disorientation as the part of him that was within her died as well._

 _"Kakashi-kun, you… really want to do this… with me?"_

 _His adult mind could now see what she was really asking but he was so stupid back then._

 _"It's the best solution. I'll always know where you are, you'll always know where I am. I'll know what's happening and if you need my help, I'll always be able to save you."_

 _"Yes… I know, but…"_

 _"We don't have to do it after this time if you don't want to."_

 _She bit her lip. "Well… if it's you, then it's okay."_

 _The possibly least romantic mutual virginity taking that ever occurred. Poor Rin. Kakashi had gotten anatomy textbooks to prepare him for the challenge but he had never once thought about her heart._

 _Her heart, ripped from her chest by his hand._

 _His mate._

He forces himself to the funeral, watches as Kurenai lays flowers on Asuma's grave.

She's handling this with such grace and dignity, it amazes him. Her hands keep unconsciously moving to the barely perceptible convex curve of her belly, to the son or daughter that Asuma will never meet in this world. Kurenai stands ramrod straight as she accepts condolences. Her team, and Ino and Chouji, hover protectively around her, as loyal as any family could be, but Shikamaru is conspicuously absent.

The boy—no, the young man—is planning something, and it's almost certainly revenge on Asuma's killer.

Kakashi wants in.

—

"Why didn't you summon me back earlier? You didn't even let me know about it!"

"Don't get mouthy with me about my orders, Sakura. There's a line between cheek and insubordination and I won't have it crossed."

Sakura recoils back as if slapped by Tsunade's famous right, then hangs her head in shame. Her master is absolutely right. "I'm sorry, shishou."

"Don't let it happen again. Honestly, Sakura, sometimes I think there's no satisfying you. You beg me to let you train, then you want to cut off your training for something you can't even help with? Do you think Katsuyu will just ferry you back and forth from the Forest on a whim?"

"No, shishou."

Tsunade refills her sake cup, knocks it back, and then softens a bit as she regards the cherry blossom pattern decorating the cup. "Sakura. You are the kind of girl who immediately wants to drop everything and rush in, damn the consequences. It's admirable, in some ways, but let me warn you seriously: sometimes the consequences will damn _you_."

"Yes, shishou." She isn't exactly certain what Tsunade means, but the general theme of Tsunade bemoaning her intense need to help and save is something she's well familiar with.

" _Damn medic nins with your damn saviour complexes!"_

 _"But shishou, nobody has a bigger saviour complex than you."_

 _"Ha! A long time ago, and I know where it got me. Yet here I go again."_

 _"I think it's wonderful, shishou."_

 _"You're as bad as that brat. I don't know why I like either of you!"_

"I do need you now. Kakashi's team should have back-up, and that includes my best medic nin."

Sakura bites her tongue to prevent herself from protesting that Shizune-sempai is better. Self-deprecation would only make Tsunade angry again.

"You'll join Yamato and the others for departure immediately. Don't summon Katsuyu unless actually necessary. Let's keep that a secret if we can."

"Hai, shishou."

"Oh, and Sakura?"

"Yes?"

"Keep working on your seal. Think about consequences."

"Hai, shishou."

—

With Obito's eye open, Kakuzu's hand signs are as obvious to Kakashi as if he is casting the jutsu himself. He files the skin-hardening jutsu away in his mental library for a later occasion. With an earth jutsu like that, it's at least a pretty good chance that this enemy is earth natured, which means that raikiri will work even better if he should happen to miss the heart. He has Shikamaru's capsule ready to catch blood with the other hand for just that eventuality.

But with the Sharingan, he will not miss.

"H-how did you… I never even sensed…!" Kakuzu gasps with Kakashi's arm through his torso.

"So you really are an earth type," taunts Kakashi. "I guessed as much from those hand signs."

"You read the signs… and you're a lightning type, so you must be…"

 _Kakashi of the Sharingan_ , Kakashi mentally finished.

"Earth is inferior to lightning. Bad luck for you. You're through." He pulls his arm free with a wet pop and looks over at the shadow-bound enemy still remaining as the corpse falls to the ground.

Hidan looks at his partner's body, thoroughly unimpressed. "I can't believe you let yourself get sucker-punched right through the fucking heart, Kakuzu."

In retrospect, Hidan's odd manner of mocking Kakuzu's "death" was a warning bell, a thing as strange as a puddle on the ground on a dry sunny day. Grandstanding and bravado in the face of death is a shinobi tradition, but Hidan was talking _to_ his partner. Therefore Kakashi should have immediately checked more closely that Kakuzu was actually dead.

Kakashi's principle of always following through on the plan B preparations, even when plan A seems to have worked, makes up for this slip-up. He has the vial of Kakuzu's blood, which should take care of another one of Kakuzu's lives. They just have to improvise a way to kill Kakuzu again… and again… and again.

As far as Kakashi knows, the Shikamaru's contingency plans accounted for an initial and a secondary failure to kill Kakuzu, but not for a fourth and fifth need to kill him. At the point in the plan where they were supposed to feign confusion and dismay, therefore, at least a little of the emotion underlying Kakashi's whispering is genuine.

Shikamaru's answer makes the next step clear, and Kakashi passes him the vial.

In one way it feels very strange to be ceding command to someone so much younger, but Shikamaru is handling it flawlessly. It's a glimpse of the future that Asuma gave his life for.

It's a rough fight. When Tenzou shows up with the rest of the reinforcements and his first comment is how shabby he looks, Kakashi resolves to get the cost of a new outfit out of him in free meals.

Naruto's devastating improvement of his father's jutsu, his strange, knuckleheaded way of coming at problems sideways, takes out the final two hearts. Kakashi technically delivers the coup de grace, but he's merely speeding up the inevitable and removing the responsibility for the kill from Naruto's shoulders.

Shikamaru returns with Sai and Sakura, having not needed either their fighting strength or Sakura's medical ninjutsu. Sakura mends them both enough to make it the short distance back to the Hokage's office. After such a series of complete or partial failures, it feels fantastic to be able to say, "Mission success, Hokage-sama: no casualties."

—

"Shikamaru… could I talk to you for a few minutes?"

The Nara eyes her. They've just finished their report to Tsunade and everyone is scattering. "I'm walking over to the Memorial Stone. Will it take longer than the walk?"

"I don't think so," Sakura says.

"Then let's go."

She bites her lip a little as they start to walk. "Although, maybe it's too public… I want to ask you something we have in common, but…"

"Yare yare," he sighs. "I don't particularly care if it's a secret or not, but it'll make my mom burst a blood vessel which I don't want to deal with. If you already know, talk."

"You're not… worried that people would think less of you if they knew?"

"You say that like it's a bad thing." He sighs again. "So many expectations, it's such a drag. I wouldn't mind if stupid people decide to bother me less, but my mom… seriously, how is she so scary…?"

He screws up his face and pulls out his pack of cigarettes. When Sakura doesn't say anything for a while, he prompts her, "Did you have a question?"

"Why do you think we exist?" She makes a _you and I_ gesture with her hand, hoping that indicates that she's talking about omegas specifically.

He pauses in the act of flicking open the lighter and gives her a look. "You don't want much, do you. Troublesome."

"Shikamaru! You're probably the smartest person I know, and you _think_ , so surely you've thought about this?"

"Hn. I have, to be honest." He resumes the ritual of lighting up, jerky and unaccustomed to the habit. "Humans are strange creatures… determined to survive, but determined to kill their own kind… flowing into every space we can, and pushing out those who are already there… seems to me it's another diversification. Look how many colours and shapes and sizes we are, how many chakra natures… throw in different ways of mating too, why not? At the very least, it assures that a certain subset of the population is extra focused on reproducing _and_ that the parents stick together. Like, imagine being a beta. You could just… _walk away_."

Shikamaru stares at the lit cigarette as if he deeply loathes it before putting it to his lips and inhaling with a grimace.

Sakura ponders if she should ask why he smokes if he hates it so much, but doesn't quite have the nerve, since it must have to do with Asuma-sensei.

"So… you don't think it has any more effect than chakra nature or height or whatever…?"

He grins with smoke around his face. "But chakra nature and height and _whatever_ have enormous effects on our lives, don't you agree, Sakura?"

Sakura thinks of the day that Kurenai-sensei tested her chakra nature. The chakra paper crumbling in her hands, and feeling as if she was always the one breaking apart, falling to pieces, trodden under foot. Of Naruto and Kakashi-sensei's flashy original jutsus, and Sasuke-kun breathing out fire long ago.

"What's your chakra nature, Shikamaru?"

"Void."

"Void?"

"Oh, sorry. Lightning." He coughs a little bit and scowls at the cigarette then takes a particularly deep drag as if in retaliation.

"Why did you say void then?"

"Ah, that's the old name for it. That's we call it in our clan hiden lessons, so I'm used to that name." He shrugs. "It's a better name for it, anyway. Why the hell would lightning submit to wind, or dominate earth? Have you seen lightning struck ground before? Is the ground hurt?"

"…it is, isn't it? The plants die…"

"Does the ground care that the grass has died? No, to the extent that lightning hurts ground or rock, it's by breaking it apart or forcing it together. Earth can hold back water, but how can it resist a vacuum? Void is what makes the earth _unearth_. It's part of what makes InoShikaCho work, why our clans have stuck together for centuries. They're mostly alphas, we're mostly omegas, but they're earth nature, so our chakra natures and our dynamic natures counteract each other and keep us on equal footing overall. And then the Akimichi are mostly fire and beta and round us out. It's the perfect team. _Lightning._ " Shikamaru snorts. "Bunch of nonsense. Just because the most common void techniques are electrically expressed. Shinobi are supposed to see under the surface."

Sakura is silent for a moment, and then she says cautiously, "In the academy, they said _strong_ and _weak, superior_ and _inferior_. Why do you say _dominates_ and _submits?_ "

For the first time in their conversation, he smiles. "Hell, I knew it didn't matter that I never paid attention in class. You're an omega too. Can't you guess why I phrase it that way? Unless you'd rather think that being submissive means you're _weaker_ and _inferior_. And if you don't think you'll ever be that way, forget it. I saw it every damn day of my childhood with my folks. That's why I'm never getting married. Alpha women are so troublesome."

Sakura feels a hot stab of anger on Ino's behalf, but actually manages to check her initial impulse to scold him. Instead, she strikes in a way that will actually connect. "Temari-san is a wind type, isn't she?"

Shikamaru's expression twitches a little and his ears redden. A palpable hit. "You know she is," he mutters.

"I think maybe you _like_ troublesome—"

He lifts his hand as if to flick his lit cigarette at her and she runs away laughing.

—

When Kakashi gets out of the hospital, he takes a shower. It's his usual post-hospital routine, no matter how short the stay. Getting off the slightest trace of the antiseptic odor is only part of the reason. The shower is one place where Kakashi can always relax. The white noise, the steam, the warmth, the familiarity, the good scents, the privacy, the ritual of cleansing—every aspect of it soothes him.

But sometimes he can't even escape here.

He's been feeling it at the back of his consciousness for a while now… the need for… release. A false euphemism if there ever was one. Even though his mate is dead, even though he's no longer a hormonal teen, his sexuality is still inconveniently present, and dealing with it is a matter of figuring out the point where the pain of dealing with it is less than the pain of letting it continue to build. Generally if he starts having wet dreams about Rin, he's let it go too far, and embarrassingly enough he'd had one in the hospital.

The shower is the perfect place for this filth.

He takes a deep inhale, filling his lungs with warm moist air, and exhales it forcefully, then pictures Rin as she was in life. Intrusively, the image shifts to her last moments alive, but he bites his cheek and forces it back to her in a calm moment, smiling at him. His cock stirs already, but he won't touch himself yet. There's only so depraved he's willing to go. She was too young— _they_ were too young, he knows that now. It's been seventeen years.

If she had lived— _don't think about why she didn't_ —a face that would have been longer, less rounded, he thinks; more rounded elsewhere, but not too much. She was always slim in build. She would be taller, just tall enough to tilt her chin up and kiss him as he takes her in his arms and presses her up against the tiled wall.

There, that's the image. Just like that…

It isn't sex that makes this disgusting, but he can't think about that now as he summons up long, long ago experienced sensations of a tightness that was more than just his hand on his cock, a slickness that was smoother than water, a warmth that was a human being. A beautiful, living, human being.

He can't rush it, he can't just try to get it over with, he knows from unfortunate experience. If he lets the self-loathing win all that will happen is that he won't get off and then he'll have put himself through this for nothing.

Kakashi keeps his eyes squeezed shut as he pumps, chanting her name softly to keep him focused, like a mantra to a deity.

 _More_ , he imagines her moaning into his ear, or _I love you,_ but never his name, never _Kakashi_ , lest he remember how that name sounded choked out with broken lungs.

The orgasm feels good. The shower helps keep him dissociated as he takes the disposable sponge he brought into the shower for this purpose and diligently scrubs away any trace of his semen, then cracks the curtain to toss the sponge into the garbage.

He washes his hands.

—

"…therefore, if the Aburame is conscious, by directing the kikai insects to temporarily leave the body, we can avoid having healing chakra siphoned off." Sakura takes a deep breath as she finishes knitting together the shattered bone in her patient, then begins working on the muscles and tendons.

"Correct. What can be done if the Aburame is unconscious?"

"First, if possible, rouse the Aburame. If not possible, then: if another Aburame is around, the insects may follow the direction of a fellow clan member. If not possible, then: if the condition is not emergent, non-chakra techniques should be used to stabilize the patient until consciousness is regained." Her hands move slowly down the patient's leg. "If emergent, one of three techniques may be used alone or in combination depending on the situation. These are: increasing the total chakra use; applying chakra in another location to lure the majority of the insects away from the site of treatment; and increased observation and/or slowed-down and/or intermittent treatment with periodic checks, to enable the medic to determine to what extent the insects are interfering with the treatment."

Tsunade smiles as Sakura's hands move back up the leg. Skin melds and smooths together. "Correct again. You make it look too easy, Sakura."

"No, Hokage-sama," says Aburame Shino, watching his formerly smashed leg return to fighting form. "No one would think that what your apprentice is doing is easy. Why? Because not even other medic-nins do it so well."

"Ha. Wouldn't they." The Hokage laughs. "You don't know the half of it. Just wait until you're in the field with her, Shino. People will be screaming at her. She'll be ordered to work faster and faster, yet not allowed to make the slightest error. Not to mention that I've set a bad example. Now medic-nins are expected to fight, just because we can. Suddenly if we're not jumping in to attack, we're being cowardly. But if we do join in and we get hurt, we were reckless."

"That must be why you're so cruel to me, Shishou," says Sakura cheekily.

The pigtailed woman rolls her eyes. "Don't think I won't throw you out the window and make you heal your own injuries again, because I will." She glances at the clock. "Well. As fun as this has been, I think I have been keeping the Daimyo's representative waiting just long enough to impress upon him that I'm doing _him_ a favour, not the other way around. Shizune should be in by now, so go ahead and take the rest of the day off, Sakura."

Since the rest of her shift would only involve routine check-ups and paperwork, Sakura thanks her master sincerely.

"I must meet with my team for training," Shino says as he stretches the leg and then shifts himself off the examining table. "Should I be aware of any particular restrictions, or may I consider my leg fully recovered?"

"Actually, some physical exertion and ninjutsu will be good for it." Sakura walks alongside him out of the hospital. "Because it's completely new bone, muscle tissue, and so on, fully integrating it into the rest of the body by pumping both blood and chakra through the new cells seems to decrease complication rates. It's actually one of the reasons that shinobi have better surgical outcomes than civilians. Especially if you're training with Hinata-chan, I don't think you have any reason to worry. She'd be able to notice something going wrong even before you would sense it."

Shino barely perceptibly nods. "That is useful information. We ordinarily have a taijutsu session on Wednesday afternoons, but I will add in some extra ninjutsu practice on my own."

Sakura perks up at this. "Taijutsu? Would you mind if I joined in? Trying to track down anyone on my team to spar is impossible, and while I know Lee-san would be overjoyed…"

"A fourth would only be a favour to me. Why? Because while two of us spar, the other watches, and Kiba cannot be quiet." A faint, irritable buzz emanates from him, so brief that Sakura isn't quite sure she really heard it.

"Well, in that case I—"

"You! Aburame!"

The two of them turn, and Sakura is surprised to see Ino's father storming up to them, his ice blue eyes trained on Shino. Shino doesn't react at all. "Good afternoon, Yamanaka-san. You wish to speak to me?"

"You know damn well I do," he snaps. "You've been avoiding me for weeks."

"I understand that you have been asking my clan about someone who is bothering your daughter, but my clan could not give you any reply. Why? Because I am not bothering her," says Shino. "My girlfriend and I—"

"You have no right to call her that, Aburame!"

"You interrupted me, Yamanaka-san. You speak of rights. I am unfamiliar with the clan laws of the Yamanaka, so perhaps as clan head you have the right to forbid or compel her marriage. But there can be no law about who or how many she chooses to have sex with."

"How many—you dare speak about her that way to me!"

"I find nothing problematic in Ino's past choices of partners. She has been both shrewd and generous."

From the expression on his face, Sakura begins to worry that Inoichi might have an aneurysm. "You scum. I'll _never_ allow her to marry an Aburame, do you hear me?"

"I have a name beyond just Aburame, Yamanaka-san. If you do not know it, you may ask your daughter. Why? Because I have heard her say it many times." As Inoichi's face turns almost as purple as his daughter's clothing, Shino calmly turns to Sakura. "We mustn't keep my team waiting, Sakura-san."

As they walk off, some wag cat-calls "Someone call the police—I've just witnessed a murder!"

"Poor Ino," Sakura breathes when they are out of hearing range.

Shino does react to that. He turns with a slight raise in his eyebrows. "Do you think she will feel embarrassed?"

Sakura thinks of how to put it. " _She_ won't be embarrassed, but… she's a complete daddy's girl, you know? I know being at odds with him about the whole… issue… was bothering her, but I didn't realize things were that tense. I really can't understand Yamanaka-san's reaction. He didn't want her to—" Sakura stops herself, realizing almost too late that she was about to give away Shikamaru's omega status. "Never mind."

Shino doesn't press it, and she has a solid workout with Team 8.

—

Kakashi runs over the plan to find Sasuke through Itachi with his ninken, and asks if they have any questions.

"I want to be with Sakura-chan!" Shiba bursts out at once.

Bisuke whines, "Will you shut up about bitches for once? This one isn't even a dog!"

"Don't be disgusting," Pakkun says. "That's Boss's student you're talking about."

Bisuke flattens himself a bit. "Sorry Boss. I didn't mean anything towards her. Even if she is a bit noisy."

"What's wrong if I like her the best? Sakura-chan smells the nicest, and she's a very good girl. Boss oughta put you with the blank."

Kakashi listens for a few minutes, amused as the dogs bicker among themselves about who Kakashi should stick with who, then finally cuts it off and assigns them.

Later, when he explains the procedure to the humans, Sakura is clearly taken aback by Shiba's enthusiastic greeting of her, paired with Bisuke once again whining for him to shut up. None of the other dogs are particularly happy with their assignments, although Bull endures the repulsive (to a canine nose) scent of the nine-tailed fox stoically.

"Boss," says Pakkun as they spread out, "are you sure it was a good idea to put Sakura-chan with only Shiba and Bisuke?"

"She's stronger than she looks."

"Yeah, but she's got a weak spot where the runaway is concerned, doesn't she?" says Pakkun. When Kakashi doesn't respond for a while, the pug continues, "And Shiba and Bisuke, they're good, but against even just Sasuke, let alone Itachi…"

"Sakura-chan follows the rules," Kakashi argues, trying to reassure himself as well. The possibility hadn't even occurred to him, and he wonders, not for the first time, why she seems to live in his mental blind spot. Last time she tried pleading with Sasuke rather than following protocol, it ended with her unconscious on a bench and Sasuke gone, so surely she will flee and regroup if she encounters him.

Won't she?

Pakkun doesn't say anything more.

—

It's normal to be depressed after mission failure. The depression after a mission failure to bring home Sasuke-kun has become all too familiar, but this depression was something else. They got so close, so often, and at the end, not only did they lose Sasuke-kun again, but they lost the only thing left they could think of to attract him home, and then they lost both Sasuke-kun and Itachi's corpse (with its lethal, transplantable eyes) to Akatsuki, the organization that wants to kill Naruto.

Naruto's depression is just as bad as hers, but what she didn't expect was for Hinata-chan to look almost as bad as they cross through Konoha's gate. Kakashi-sensei told them he and Yamato-taichou needed to consult with the Hokage alone. The rest of Team 8 scatters, but Hinata-chan slows to a trudge and then suddenly stops, staring at the ground and fiddling her index fingers.

Sakura looks around and sees that Naruto and Sai are already gone. "Hey, Hinata-chan, what's wrong?"

The huge blank eyes blink at Sakura slowly, so that Sakura wonders whether she's being looked at or through. "B-besides the failure?"

"Well, that seems like enough, but…" Sakura lets it trail off. "Want to come over for tea? I'd rather not be alone with my thoughts either, to tell you the truth."

"O-okay."

Sakura puts on the kettle for tea without bothering to give Hinata-chan the chance to beg her not to bother. To her surprise, Hinata-chan starts the conversation herself.

"Sakura-chan, why do you want to be a ninja?"

Sakura settles herself on the other side of the kotetsu, wishing the heat would work faster. "Well. Because I can do it, I suppose. It's so… rewarding, when I save a friend, when I stop an enemy. I feel like… I have power, and I'm using that power to make the world better."

"And you enjoy it."

It's a statement, but Sakura answers it anyway. "Yes, I think I do. There's something about just… _fixing_ things. _Willing_ the poison out of the wound, and the bone to put itself back together. There's a problem in my way?" She makes a fist with a grin. "Not anymore!"

Hinata-chan grins a little back, and says quietly, "Shannaro?"

Sakura laughs. "Yeah! It's too bad Gentle Fist doesn't lend itself to screaming, Hinata. It's incredibly satisfying."

Hinata's smile is gone again. "I don't… I never feel that… that enjoyment you're talking about. I mean, a little, in the success, but… when I'm fighting… I hate it. I always, always _hate_ it."

Sakura tries to think of what to say, but Hinata-chan continues before she comes up with anything. "And it isn't just fighting… medical ninjutsu is a little better, but not much… I don't feel that satisfaction you're talking about, and I'm so… d-distractable, and… and hesitant…" Her lip wibbles, but she doesn't cry. "Like today, I failed so many times… I should have seen Sasuke-kun's fight before the explosion, and I shouldn't have gotten d-d-distracted when we faced that masked enemy, so that you had to t-t-tell me to focus, and Kakashi-sensei shouldn't have had to t-tell me where to look for the second fight, I should have seen it long before… Neji-nii-san would have seen all of those things. And my little sister too… The m-mission failure is my fault…"

"Hinata-chan, that's nonsense. One of Kakashi-sensei's ninken got a trace of Sasuke-kun, but we didn't figure out that it was coming from one of his companions. I probably walked right past them without knowing it. Does that make the failure my fault?" Internally, Sakura had been thinking exactly that, but in the face of Hinata-chan's self-recrimination she develops the sudden ability to absolve herself.

Hinata shakes her head but doesn't say anything. They sit in silence for a while until the kettle whistles.

Sakura comes back with the tea and a dish of umeboshi and sets the tray down. "I know you work hard, Hinata-chan. You've come so far since the first chuunin exams. We both have. I actually think… the way that you press on and don't give up, even though you hate being a kunoichi and wish you could quit, I think that's admirable, really. Even _Lee-san_ has been tempted to give up sometimes, and nobody enjoys what they do more than he does!"

"It's because of these eyes…" Hinata-chan takes a sip of tea and sighs. "You know, before I became a genin, I used to… daydream, sometimes, that I would go into heat and bond with somebody… somebody wonderful, who would take care of everything and nobody would expect anything of me anymore." Her mouth flattens into a thin line. "But that was childish and cowardly. I have this gift that my uncle _died_ for. To serve the Leaf with it is the least I can do. I just wish… I wish I had inherited more than just these eyes… because in every other way, I don't feel like a Hyuuga at all…" The milky eyes glance at the clock. "I should go home… but I hate the idea of m-my father asking about the m-mission at dinner. He'll p-probably start talking about how it's for the best if the Uchiha made an end of each other… and asking Neji-nii-san how he would fight a Sharingan user…"

Sakura never liked the Hyuuga clan head, but now she hates him. "Then have dinner here."

"I'd like to, but I can't."

"Can't nothing. I'll take care of it." She crosses to the phone and dials. After a lot of throwing the words _Hokage's apprentice_ around, she finally gets a hold of Hiashi. "Hyuuga-sama? How do you do. This is Haruno Sakura, the Hokage's apprentice."

Hinaa fidgets.

"I'm flattered to hear you know of me, Hyuuga-sama. I was on a mission with Hinata-sama today and I think she'd better stay here with me for observation." Sakura waves off Hinata's look of shock. "Hyuuga-sama, that is entirely unnecessary. Do you think I can't care for a simple case of chakra exhaustion on my own? I am sure that Ko-san can better employ his time elsewhere. Mm. Certainly she will. Good evening."

"I can't believe you lied right to my father," Hinata says, impressed and hushed, as Sakura cradles the phone.

"Easiest way to get away with lying is not to lie. I do think you'd better stay here; I don't mind looking at you at all; sending a lackey here is unnecessary; and as for chakra exhaustion, I could care for it with my eyes closed. I never said you _had_ chakra exhaustion."

They pass a pleasant, quiet evening, with the biggest challenge being to find a top among Sakura's clothing that will work for Hinata to sleep in. Since it's a cold evening anyway, they eventually settle on an oversized sweatshirt.

"Hinata-chan?"

Sakura hears the shift of fabric in the darkness. "Hmm?"

"Sorry, did I wake you?"

"No, it's fine. What is it, Sakura-chan?"

"What's your chakra nature?"

"Eh? It's lightning. Why?"

"Just curious."

Sakura stares at the faint streetlight from the window, thinking about how Naruto had been so excited to tell her that he was wind nature which would complement Sasuke's fire.

 _Hinata-chan is lightning, which means she would complement Naruto… but if I'm earth and Sasuke-kun is fire, then…_ She turns over, suddenly angry with herself. _I'm not going to let something like that mean that I'm fated not to be able to help Sasuke-kun. And besides! Isn't he lightning too? Then I am compatible with him! Naruto and I are going to save him. We'll save him for sure! He beat Itachi, he can escape Akatsuki too, and then he'll come home… he'll come home and we'll all be together like before…_


	11. Chapter 11

Sakura picks up the undershirt made of coarse goat's hair and slides her hand within it.

"These are called cilices," Kurenai says. "They are very rarely used, but I think they can still have their place. They are useful to be able to recognize, certainly. Paranoid civilian targets often employ them, since they are more or less the only defence against genjutsu available to someone who can't manipulate their chakra. In general, targets wear cilices that not easily seen when worn under clothing. The mechanism of a cilice as a counter-genjutsu is not simply the physical pain breaking the genjutsu, but also that if the caster of a genjutsu doesn't realize it's there, and attempts to weave an illusion that doesn't include it, that might tip the target off that the situation isn't real. Therefore, including the sensation of the cilice is an excellent way to sell a target on an illusion; and of course, if you succeed in trapping the target, you should remove the cilice before putting the target into motion. Another reason why stealth and observation are critical for genjutsu."

Sakura puts the hairshirt down and fingers a chain. "How does this one work?"

"This one wraps just above the knee, with the barbs pointed inwards. It irritates and pinches whenever you walk. Properly made and fitted, it shouldn't break the skin, impede movement, or cause serious damage, just hurt. Someone who wears a cilice would alternate between several different locations to minimize rashes and other complications."

Sakura nods. "So I should familiarize myself with a variety of them."

"Exactly."

"Kurenai-sensei…" The chain drops onto the table with a dull clunk. "…I'm sorry, I'm just…"

Kurenai lifts an eyebrow. "There's more to being a kunoichi than that Uchiha you're chasing."

"I know but… against a Sharingan…"

"Sakura." It is rare for Kurenai to drop the diminutive suffix, so Sakura snaps to attention. "I repeat. You are a kunoichi of Konoha. Not a kunoichi of finding your ex-teammate. If you hadn't noticed, other than _him_ , there's only one person in the entire world that has a Sharingan anymore, and that person is loyal to Konoha. So. Aside from one opponent, there is still _the entire rest of the world_ that you can use genjutsu on. Well-crafted genjutsu is difficult to cast. Deadly. Effective. Efficient. Unnoticed. It is a fine and noble art and a vital tool to the village. Do you understand me?"

Sakura's stomach turns. Not only from the harsh reprimand about her focus, but from the implication that Kurenai felt that Sakura was denigrating genjutsu, Kurenai's specialty. Her stomach twists tighter as she realizes that she _was_ denigrating genjutsu as a waste of time. She bows her head. "I understand. I apologize, sensei."

Kurenai's voice comes a little softer, though Sakura doesn't raise her head. "Of course your precious people mean so much to you. But don't lose sight of who you are, and the path you chose, and the promises you made. The village is so much more than any one of us."

With her head bowed, Sakura is looking at Kurenai's baby bump. "Hai, sensei."

"Well," Kurenai says briskly, and Sakura takes that cue to raise back up, though her cheeks still burn a bit. "Can you identify what cilice, if any, I am wearing?"

At close quarters, her medical chakra sensing helps her zero in on the irregularities in the nerves. "In your sandals."

Kurenai blinks. "Very good, Sakura-chan. What is it?"

Sakura frowns, looking at the sandal.

"I can feel your chakra flaring a bit now," Kurenai says. "I couldn't before. Were you aware of it?"

"Oh. Well. I wasn't trying to be careful, but… sensing has always been a weak area for me."

Kurenai nods. "Yes. Being a sensor type has been an important contribution to my success in missions. Especially solo missions. Not to brag, but I had to pioneer my own approach. I had to claw my way to jounin…"

"It's a rock?" guesses Sakura, taking the topic back.

Kurenai laughs. "Not bad. Yes, just an ordinary, irritating rock." She opens her sandal and shakes it out. "Glad to get that out. The things I do for my beloved students."

"Kurenai-sensei… do you think that maybe… like how you applied your type to your specialty… maybe I need to apply being a genjutsu type to medical ninjutsu?"

"Ah, now that's the Sakura-chan I like to see."

Sakura isn't quite sure what she means by that, but she smiles hesitantly.

—

Kakashi stares at Tsunade in silence for about ten seconds before he is able to speak. _It's the end of Icha Icha_. He knows he ought to be ashamed that this is his first and so far only reaction, but his brain is refusing to cooperate.

"Dead, Hokage-sama?"

Tsunade stares back steadily and nods, and he marvels at her composure. They are shinobi, and death is a part of their lives, but it can't have been an hour since she learned of the death of perhaps her last remaining childhood friend. She always spurned Jiraiya's offer of romance, but she clearly valued him.

"Sure is hard to believe that Jiraiya-chan is gone." The wizened little toad's feet tap a moment, and his tone turns wistful. "He'd had a long life. A long, long life…"

Something about the way he emphasized the length of his life made it sound as if living to a fairly ancient age for a ninja was the saddest part of his demise. Almost imperceptibly, Tsunade stiffens. Kakashi thinks again about Tadao and Junko in _Icha Icha Tactics._

"I want you to bring Naruto here personally," Tsunade says. "Immediately."

—

Sakura fidgets with her hands behind her back as Naruto walks in the room behind Kakashi-sensei. Naruto is already as depressed and listless as she is by their most recent failure to reach Sasuke-kun. What will his master's death do to him?

"Oh, it's the Geezer Sage. What are you doing here?" Naruto says, confused. He looks around. "Pervy Sage is back? Oh no. I'm going to Myoboku again dattebayo?!" He panics a bit, backing up. "Uh, could I uh, stop by the convenience store and grab some ramen, as, uh, as a present, yeah—"

"Naruto-chan…" Fukasaku-sama interrupts. "I'm not sure how to begin, but… I'll begin with what's most important. Jiraiya-chan has died in battle."

The silence is long and painful. Naruto's comical stumbles abruptly cease and he just stares.

"Huh?" is all Naruto says at last. His eyes flick over their faces, and Sakura bites her tongue as Naruto's gaze meets hers for a moment before looking over to Sai, as if he could have any help to offer, before going back to the toads. "Wh-what do you mean?"

"Jiraiya-chan infiltrated Amegakure in search o' Pain." The frog summarizes what happened in the rain-soaked city. "They was too much, even with me 'n Ma helpin' him in Sage Mode. Jiraiya-chan coulda got away, but he kept on in order to get information ta help y'all here in Konoha fight him. He figured somethin' out, but his throat got crushed afore he could tell me. So he wrote this here code on my back."

Fukusaku-sama pulled off his cloak and turned to reveal to them all the deep gouges in his amphibian skin, forming a series of numbers: 9, 31, 8 / 106, 7 / 207, 15

"If he had just wrote it plain, maybe Pain woulda been able ta do somethin' with the information. I don't rightly know what it is, but Jiraiya-chan sure thought it was worth dyin' for."

As the frog spoke, Naruto's brow furrowed more and more. He inhales through his nose sharply as Fukusaku-sama reclothes himself. "Baa-chan… you let him go…"

Sakura doesn't allow herself to look at Tsunade-sama as her master answers, "Of course."

Bang, explosion. "Why'd you let him risk himself like that?" Naruto yells.

Kakashi-sensei firmly raises an arm between Naruto and the Hokage and says sharply, "Stop it, Naruto."

He continues as if Kakashi-sensei did nothing. "You, of all people, should know what Pervy Sage was—to let him go in to such a dangerous place all alone—! What happened to four man cells, huh? And don't say he wouldn't listen to you, because it was only you—"

"Naruto." Kakashi-sensei's voice sounds the same to Sakura, but Naruto lets it stop him. He gives Kakashi a challenging glare, but he listens. "You, of all people, should understand what Godaime-sama is feeling."

Naruto's glower grows, his breath is harsh and animalistic. Sakura forces her breath calmer at the surge of panic that comes with this reminder of what he's like in tailed beast mode. _Naruto won't. He is not going to do that. He is more mature than that, he's had a shock, but he'll listen to Kaka-sensei and realize that we just have to focus on Jiraiya-sama's message now—_

Naruto snarls and turns to leave. Sakura could smack him. To _leave?!_

"Naruto! Where do you think you're going?!" _Doesn't that idiot understand that we have to work on this thing right now?_

"If Pervy Sage were the Hokage," Naruto continues unheeding as he strikes towards the door, "he would never have let Baa-chan go alone dattebayo!"

"Naruto!" Sakura takes a step forward.

"Sakura, that's enough. Leave him alone."

"But, shishou…"

Kakashi-sensei addresses the Toad Sage. "I apologize for that, Fukasaku-sama."

He waves a webbed hand. "No need. That brat surely loved Jiraiya-chan. Ya can't expect a kid to get over losing a sensei like that so quickly."

Kakashi nods slowly.

"Nara Shikamaru to see you, Hokage-sama," a disembodied voice announces.

"Alright Tiger, send him in."

Shikamaru strolls in. "So about the last…"

He trails off because the Hokage is holding out a photograph for him to take, and steps forward to receive a copy of the image of Fukasaku's back.

"This code was written on the back of Fukasaku-sama by Jiraiya. It is an important message, probably regarding Pain. Take it to the cipher squad immediately and start the decoding work."

"Immediately?" Shikamaru glances at Sakura and back to the Hokage. "But the cipher squad aren't even working right now—"

"Then summon them, Shikamaru." Tsunade stands and stalks out from behind the desk. "My orders are to focus everything on this, _now._ Time is of the essence."

"But then—hey—Hokage-sama, wait—I actually came here to tell you—" Shikamaru tells Tsunade's back as she leaves.

"Shikamaru, please…"

"But, Sakura…" He trails off as their eyes meet. "Well, hell. I could go for a smoke anyway."

—

Kakashi stands in the street and watches as Shikamaru walks off, the slump in the boy's shoulders and the languor of his stride belying just how much he has matured. He'll be able to do something about Naruto's depression.

Far more than Kakashi could, anyway. What was his last attempt to shake someone out from heading down the wrong path? Tying Sasuke to a tree? He could almost laugh. If he tried to talk to Naruto, it would end up just as disastrous.

 _Look, my beloved sensei died, and look at me! You just keep going anyway, because…_

 _Because…_

"9, 31, 8, 106, 7, 207, 15," he mutters to himself. "9, 31, 8, 106, 7, 207, 15… or it might be purposefully out of order…"

 _There is nothing left…_

He shoves the intrusive thought away mid-sentence. _Or the numbers could correspond to something… a foreign alphabet… no… too high… if it's a message with only seven numbers, then rather than letters or even syllables, it's probably words… or even phrases… what are words and phrases that are numbered… it might be scripture verses, sutras…?_

Kakashi wanders to the library, absently fingering the spine of _Icha Icha Tactics._

—

"Do you want to know the sex?"

Kurenai is looking at a bright poster cheerfully informing about the dangers of drinking while pregnant with a kind of resigned resentment.

"Kurenai-sensei?" Sakura prompts.

"Oh, sorry." She rubs her temple absently. "I'm a little tired today. Baby kept kicking me last night."

"Ah, yes, a lot of the women I see have that problem," says Sakura. "Future taijutsu talent!"

Kurenai laughs. "Oh no, don't say that! I don't need a little Kakashi who teaches himself to wall walk to reach candy!"

"Oh, I can imagine Kakashi-sensei being sneaky and naughty like that!" laughs Sakura. "Did he wear a mask even back then?"

"Well, he did… but actually, he was horribly well-behaved when we were children, if you can believe it. He always told on us when we did anything wrong, and he _never_ did anything wrong. I only mentioned him because he entered the academy already knowing how to wall walk, how to tree walk, even how to water walk… he was better than the teachers, no wonder they had him take the graduation test the same year… oh, and how the teachers used to get on Asuma… 'you're the Hokage's son, and here you are still at the academy…'"

"Graduate the same year? What do you mean?"

"Oh, Kakashi graduated when he was five. You didn't know that?"

"No. He, uh…" She remembers it clearly: _I don't feel like telling you my likes and dislikes… I have many hobbies…_ "He never told us much about his past. Or… or, not me, at least."

Kurenai tuts. "That man. I thought being a sensei would be good for him, and it has been, but… anyway, look at me, wandering far from the subject. I _am_ tired. You asked me if I want to know the sex of my baby and here I am talking about the academy. Yes. I do want to know."

"I can tell you directly, or… or, I can write it down, if you'd like to open it in private, or with someone…"

"Go ahead please, Sakura-chan."

"Congratulations, she's a healthy girl." Sakura smiles wide, hoping to see a smile back.

Kurenai does smile, but then she blows out a breath of air with relief. "Well, that's good. Less pressure from the clan, probably…" She catches herself and laughs almost guiltily. "Well, Sakura-chan, if you have to deal with it anyway, you might as well make sexism work for you."

"Well, if you don't have any questions, you can go. Make an appointment for three weeks from now with reception."

As Kurenai goes out, a nurse pokes her head in. "Haruno-sensei?"

Being addressed as _Dr. Haruno_ always feels a bit odd. "Yes, Fusayo-san?"

"Might-san is here and asking for you specifically, if you can manage to fit him into your appointment schedule. He said it's about… the chafing…"

Sakura sighs. _I am a medical professional, I am a medical professional…_

—

Shiho clears her throat. "We'll start with the first word on the indicated page of the book, but we should have it in context, so Hatake-san, please read the whole sentence."

"N-now?"

"Yes, of course!"

Kakashi stares at the roomful of expectant ninja, the cryptographers, Shikamaru, Naruto.

Kakashi taught his students a lot about looking underneath the underneath.

What he didn't get to—mostly because he really was a rotten teacher, as his former students' immediate exponential blossoming under new teachers proved—was the next step for shinobi who have mastered looking at the overlooked.

 _"Today's training!" said Minato-sensei brightly. "Find, obtain, and deliver. Rin-chan, I want you to bring me this leaf." He held up a large oak leaf with a single large insect bite dead centre. "Obito-kun, this flower." The flower was wilting strangely, half rotten and half fresh. "Kakashi-kun, this mushroom." A fat white mushroom with a single red spot._

 _Kakashi remembers scowling, irritated that he was going to be slowed down once again by his deadweight team. Rin, at least, would accept his help in finding her leaf, but Obito would probably refuse on principle._

 _"I'll leave these here." Minato-sensei gestured to the three botanical items on top of the stump. "Now I want_ these exact items— _this shape, this size, exactly these items in every way, understand? I won't accept anything less. There are no other rules! I'll be at Training Ground Seven." He waved and body-flickered away._

 _Kakashi didn't remember much of the actual, grinding, tedious, and ultimately fruitless search for a match. He had tried clones, he was pretty sure, and he thought Obito had attempted to use his fire jutsu to burn a hole in a leaf to match Rin's target, but only succeeded in nearly setting his own arm ablaze, of course. Not like a burned hole would look like an insect hole anyway…_

 _Minato-sensei was sweaty but still maddeningly cheerful when he came back to their area of the forest. "What a great day for a work-out!" he called. "But you all failed your assignment?"_

 _His three students stared at him—sheepish Rin, Obito sucking on a burnt finger, Kakashi outwardly indifferent but inwardly crawling with shame._

 _"Nobody thought to just bring me these, huh?" Their teacher tapped on the stump._

 _Three mouths, one hidden by a mask, fell open._

 _Minato-sensei laughed. "I expected failure, don't worry. Actually, in some ways, it means you're good shinobi. You're all very good at looking underneath the underneath, very diligent, very obedient, very mission-focused… but don't forget about the best place to hide something from a typical ninja…" He picked up the leaf and looked through the hole with one eye. "In plain sight."_

In the present, everyone is staring at him as his face gets hotter and hotter.

 _"I told you I wanted these items, but because I just put them down, you all assumed they couldn't_ really _be the items. You all assumed that I didn't mean my plain meaning. Now, can you imagine the possibilities here?"_

"What are you waiting for?!" Naruto face contorts with rage as sweat beads on Kakashi's bright red face.

Kakashi remembers being a teenager, desperate to get away to a fantasy place, to _escape_ being himself, compulsively reading romance novels. A huge, obvious, glaring vulnerability. And he knew it, he knew it right away, and he was surrounded always by other shinobi, so the best way to hide this vulnerability…

 _"Hound, get your nose out of your smut, the target will be here in less than an hour," Owl snickered._

 _Kakashi turned a page and said nothing. He was there in body with his fellow ANBU, but he was also far, far away, with a beautiful woman who was just about to seduce a grieving widower, giving him comfort, pleasure, hope,_ life _._

 _"That guy is so cold," complained Rabbit. "He's like a machine, he doesn't care about anything. Reading a disgusting book like that in public."_

…was to make his compulsive habit as obvious as possible.

But hiding in plain sight has one serious drawback. If the observer ever _does_ twig on, it's all over.

"Do it!" Naruto growls.

It comes out of Kakashi like it's being dragged out of him with a hook. "Do you… really… love me?"

It's humiliating. It's agonizing. He would rather chew and swallow glass than recite these phrases of romance and connection.

When it's over, he's a sweaty, numb mess. Only muscle memory is keeping him clinging to the windowsill. Slowly, slowly, sense and feeling returns as he realizes that the urgent problem of Jiraiya-sama's code has got them all focused on it. Even when they were listening to him, they weren't thinking of him and what the words meant in their plain meaning; only their meaning for the code.

He's escaped, he's escaped.

—

"The real one isn't among them, eh?" The frog's webbed foot slowly tapped. "Well… I can't say that I'm real sure about it… it does bring somethin' to mind though… Jiraiya-chan said that none of 'em looked like Nagato, but all of 'em were like Nagato… but don't make any quick conclusions, y'hear? This Pain, seems like he can come back from the dead… an opponent like that ain't nothing to trifle with."

"Then we need more data," Kakashi says, and turns to Sakura. "How about the other investigations? The autopsy, and T&I?"

"They'll take some time," she replies.

"How _much_ time?" barks Naruto.

Sakura sighs. "Even they probably don't know."

"How can they not know dattebayo! Are they just goofing off or what? This is serious!"

 _Oh, wow, Naruto, I don't think anyone else realized that Pain killing Jiraiya-sama was a big deal. You moron!_ Out loud she says testily but professionally, "Without regard to the interrogation process…" _Which I don't know anything about but I'm not such a fool as to think that something I don't know about must be quick and_ easy. "A full autopsy isn't just cutting up a body, Naruto. You have to analyze things on the cellular level, extract enzymes and cultivate them _in vitro_ … There are some things that _can't_ be rushed."

"A week minimum," Tsunade interjects.

"A week!"

"A week with Shizune leading the autopsy," Tsunade reiterates firmly. "So that's quicker than usual. We just have to wait."

"I'm gonna make 'em hurry up dattebayo!" Naruto actually starts to walk off.

Sakura is rapidly losing her grip on _Sakura, medical professional._ "Naruto, if you go over there and bother Shizune-sempai then so help me—"

"Naruto-chan, doncha think your Sage trainin' would be a better way to prepare to face Pain? It's only by Sage mode that Jiraiya-chan lasted as long as he did. Time ta come up with a way for ya to recharge Sage mode, since Ma and I can't go on your shoulders."

Naruto stops, slumps again, but squares his shoulders and turns back. "Alright. But, uh... I'm just gonna stop at the convenience store for that housewarming gift for Ma, you know, and I can get extra, don't want to put her out having to cook for me dattebayo—"

"Nonsense! Ma loves to feed ya!"

"I'll meet you at the gate!" Naruto body flickers away with a panicked bang.

—

Shikaku hands Kakashi a sheaf of papers.

 ** _Current Control of Tailed Beasts_**

 _ **One tail:** Akatsuki_  
 _ **Two tails:** Akatsuki_  
 _ **Three tails:** Akatsuki_  
 _ **Four tails:** Akatsuki_  
 _ **Five Tails:** Akatsuki_  
 _ **Six Tails:** Missing-nin from Kirigakure, status unknown, possibly captured by Akatsuki_  
 _ **Seven Tails:** Takigakure, missing, possibly captured by Akatsuki_  
 _ **Eight Tails:** Kumogakure_  
 _ **Nine Tails:** Konohagakure_

Kakashi flips to the next page.

 ** _Six Tails Jinchuuriki_ **  
**_Name:_** _Ukiuchi Utakata_ 浮内ウタカタ  
 ** _Village Affiliations:_** _Kirigakure (former)_  
 ** _Clan Affiliations:_** _Shimayo clan (mother's side); great-grandson of the First Mizukage, nephew of the Third Mizukage. Utakata's defection was cited excuse for purge of remaining Shimayo and Ukiuchi clan members (see intelligence notes from Fourth Mizukage reign), no known relatives survive_  
 ** _Other Affiliations:_ **_None_  
 ** _Age:_ **_26, if still alive; age at defection 17-18 (date unclear; Kiri attempted to conceal defection)_  
 ** _Chakra Nature_ **_: Water Release_  
 ** _Other Nature Releases:_ **_None known_  
 ** _Type:_ **_Sensor_  
 ** _Range:_ **_Distance_  
 ** _Dynamic:_** _Alpha_  
 ** _Jutsu Remarks:_ **_Specializes in acid and bubble techniques_  
 ** _Rank:_ **_Jounin (former)_  
 ** _Bounty:_ **_S-Class (25 million ryo - Kirigakure is offering 50 million ryo if captured alive)_  
 ** _Personality:_ **_Intelligence describes his pre-defection personality as loyal, happy, reserved, cautious, calm. Defection cause appears to be unknown within Kiri and was a shock._  
 ** _Weaknesses_ **_: None known_  
 ** _Notes:_ **_Freelance bounty hunters do not consider the bounty worth the effort. Usually only heard of in the context of having killed Kiri hunter-nin. Usually travels along the southern coast. Last heard from two months ago (killed three Kiri hunter-nin)._

He flips again.

 ** _Seven Tails Jinchuuriki_**  
 ** _Name:_** _Fuu_ フウ  
 ** _Village Affiliations:_** _Takigakure_  
 ** _Clan Affiliations:_** _unknown_  
 ** _Other Affiliations:_** _unknown_  
 ** _Age:_** _19_  
 ** _Chakra Nature:_** _Earth_  
 ** _Other Nature Releases:_** _Water, Yang_  
 ** _Type:_** _Ninjutsu_  
 ** _Range:_ **_Distance_  
 ** _Dynamic:_** _Alpha_  
 ** _Jutsu Remarks:_** _Blinding, immobilizing, and healing techniques make her a very dangerous support fighter but she lacks finishing power in her own right_  
 ** _Rank:_ **_Jounin_  
 ** _Bounty:_ **_No current bounties known_  
 ** _Personality:_** _Displayed high-spirited, happy, friendly nature at the Chuunin Exams (the source of most data on her)_  
 ** _Weaknesses_ **_: Very curious and eager to make friends._  
 ** _Notes:_ **_Disappeared two days ago while training. Complained of feeling agitated and cooped up, asked to spar, could not find any takers, and announced she was going to go "destroy a training field." Training field damage consistent with this, but also consistent with a struggle/battle. Never returned._

Kakashi flips through the remaining pages, mostly intelligence from the chuunin exam about Fuu. "You're not sending me out of the village now…"

"Akatsuki wants Tailed Beasts," Tsunade says. "Therefore, we don't want them to have them. This is overdue, frankly. No, I'm not sending you, but I want your input on two teams to track down what happened."

"Hm… for the Takigakure girl… Aburame-sama leading… with a few Inuzuka chuunin. Perhaps Sai? The Kiri missing-nin is trickier. I doubt he'll assume we're there to say hello. A Nara and a Hyuuga… Shikaku, who would you recommend among your clansmen?"

"Yoshiki… maybe with Neji-san…"

"Neji is on a mission, but that can wait. The Takigakure case is the urgent one. Shibi is a good idea for leader. But why Izunukas?" Tsunade presses her fingertips together.

"Maa, this personality type, she won't be persuaded by Shibi," Kakashi points out. "If she's not with the Akatsuki, then I think the Inuzuka clan has the family feeling she's looking for."

"Alright. Aburame Shibi, Inuzuka Kiba, Inuzuka Hiji, and Inuzuka Mayu. Any objections?"

"No, Hokage-sama."

"No, Hokage-sama."

"Good. Shikaku. How is Inoichi doing?"

"It's quite difficult, but no one's better than him."

"I'm aware, but make sure he takes breaks to eat and sleep and breathe. I don't dispute that he's the best, but he is not the only Yamanaka. And Ino could use the experience." Shikaku shifts, and Tsunade's eyes narrow. "Alright, spit it out."

"I don't… like to get involved, but… huh." He shakes his head. "Less troublesome to tell you outright, I suppose. There's something between Inoichi and his daughter."

"Something?"

"Like I said, Hokage-sama, I don't like to get involved."

"Alright. I'll speak to… no. I'll speak to Ino first. Don't say anything to Inoichi."

"I wouldn't dream of it, Hokage-sama."

—

Sakura wads up the sandwich wrapper and tosses it into the trash, then glances at the clock. With Shizune working overtime on the autopsy and Tsunade just as busy directing other village operations, she's only able to take twenty minute meal breaks, and she's using this one to check up on how Shiho and Shikamaru are doing with the code.

"If ' _the real one is not among them_ ,'" says Shikamaru, "could that mean that the six Pains are actually genjutsu? The caster could be the female Akatsuki member who was there as well. Then she killed Jiraiya-sama while he was trapped in the illusion."

"I think that's very unlikely," Sakura replies. "Fukasaku-sama said that Jiraiya-sama died from being stabbed by real weapons wielded by all six of them. I know that the false deaths seem to point to genjutsu, but maybe there's another explanation for how they were revived."

"The Akatsuki already had other members who could be killed more than once. They don't seem to follow the laws of nature. Or physics. Or logic." Shikamaru scowls.

Shiho says, "We should come up with as many hypotheses as possible and then when we get data from the autopsy team and the interrogation team we can see which—"

 _Thwoom._ The building shakes like an earthquake for a few seconds before settling.

All three are out of their seats in an instant and to the window. Smoke rises in clouds in the mid-distance. "What was that?"

"Let's go," says Shikamaru, and he's gone, with Shiho close behind him. The all-points emergency siren begins blaring.

Sakura swallows and quickly performs the hand seals for the fertility suppressant booster jutsu, and then adds in her own modifications for minimizing the side effects— _bird, snake, rat, snake, rabbit, snake, horse, horse, tiger, tiger._ The initial sharp pain in her abdomen of effect is much worse, like a literal stab wound, and the area will remain more sensitive and tender, but the dizziness and nausea side effects are basically null. Worth it for a clear head.

She heads for the hospital, but has to detour to destroy an enormous centipede with a roar of "Shannaro!"

Sakura whirls around to shout, "Are you alright?" at the world in general, zeroing in on a little girl with a bleeding knee. She switches from red-blooded battle mode to a kind, maternal smile, dropping to a crouch beside the girl. "Ah, this doesn't look too bad! Just give me a minute." Green chakra flows from her palm, and the little girl tentatively smiles back.

She has a brief encounter with Iruka-sensei, who tells her to get to the hospital to deal with "all the injured." It's as bad as Konoha Crush.

The sound of explosions, screams, and inhuman noises come faster and from more directions. She ducks down from a roof to relieve a woman who is struggling to help a man with a missing leg.

"You evacuate!" Sakura barks at the woman as she hefts the man over her shoulder in a fireman carry, absentmindedly cauterizing the stump as she does so. "I'll take him to the hospital!"

"But he's my husband!" wails the woman as Sakura leaps back onto the roofs.

—

Kakashi has died so many times.

Suffocation might be his least favourite. Decapitation, blunt trauma, immolation, poison, acid, electrocution, and many, many, many stab wounds. And that's just the shadow clone deaths. Itachi's seventy-two hour crucifixion via genjutsu was admittedly novel, but he expected no less from the one who became an ANBU captain at thirteen, surpassing Kakashi's own record.

This particular time, Kakashi, as lightning shadow clone, dies via impalement on a flexible ridged blade that arcs like a tail from the back of the most inhuman of the Pains. It sets off his entire being to act as a kind of electropulse bomb, paralyzing the Pain long enough for Chouza and Chouji to destroy it. "One down, one to go, Kakashi!"

Kakashi brushes off his clone's memories of being pulled inexorably onto the weapon; no time for that now. "I did have something in mind," he says, his pride unwilling to let himself be thought of as having lacked a plan, "but this does save me chakra, so thanks."

Chouza is about a decade older than Kakashi, but they've been on the same team several times. Chouza always had the disquieting habit of cutting straight to the point, and he does so again. "Do you have enough chakra left?"

An internal wince. "About half. It'll be a tight fight."

Pain gives another demonstration of his devastating jutsu, and Kakashi teams up with the Akimichi father and son for a desperate attempt at taking out the remaining Pain, but with the other Pain suddenly interposing himself between them, his raikiri can't quite make it through.

Kakashi ends up wedged inside detritus from the shoulders down. His entire body is a mass of pain—there's no point trying to distinguish broken bone from contusion from cut from fracture. Pain remarks that he's convinced that Kakashi can't move, but even so, he's going to keep his distance.

"Well, you probably won't miss at that distance," Kakashi says as he looks at the nail in Pain's hand.

 _Death by nail… have I ever been killed by a projectile like that before? I guess there was that one shrapnel death…_ He draws up memories with the Sharingan in a rush to confirm. Kakashi takes in a deep breath, knowing he'll need it. _I can jerk my head showily like… so!_

He acts the part as he sends the nail away with Kamui in the last fraction of a second, spitting out a mouthful of blood to add to the mess and the realism. then going completely limp while holding his breath—not an easy trick, but one he's had to use before.

Pain leaves, and Kakashi takes in tiny breaths, just enough to keep living. He might black out from chakra exhaustion at any time.

"Tou-san…!"

 _Oh, shit. Shit! Get out of here, Chouji!_

"You died saving me!" Chouji's voice comes, from a different place.

"Cry… later!" Kakashi rasps. _Oh, a punctured lung, too. Swell._ "Report… about Pain… to Tsunade-sama… for counter… measures. Mourn… later!"

"Kakashi-sensei?"

 _"Don't waste your father's death!"_ Kakashi explodes. It hurts to breathe, so much.

Even after being killed twice, even in bits, the multi-faced Pain is still able to fight, and takes aim at Chouji.

A new kind of death, this one through Kamui. Death by total chakra depletion.

As the missile warps into the other dimension, Kakashi feels all the energy leave his body with it. For a few brief moments, it's like his consciousness is untethered to anything.

 _I guess this is the way I join you… Obito… Rin…_

Kakashi dies.

—

 _How can I possibly save them all? I can't even pause to triage!_

"Sakura-sensei! I'm losing her!"

"Please help me!"

"Let me die, it hurts too much!"

On her way to help the nurse who spoke first, Sakura knocks the last speaker unconscious with a simple tap to the forehead. _Stupid old man. You've just got a wrenched leg. People are dying! I don't want to hear your moaning!_

"Oh no you don't!" Sakura shouts at a genin who dumped a bleeding, writhing mass onto a vacant table and seemed about to turn around and leave. Sakura points with her head, since both her hands are trying to stop the haemorrhage of the current patient. "The patients along that far wall are stable enough to be moved! Get as many as you can to the evacuation route—I need the space for more patients!"

"Hai!" The genin is on the short side, but she gamely picks up one patient in bridal carry and asks the others, "Can any of you hold onto my back?"

The hospital rumbles. Divisions of the slug summon appear and begin attaching to all the patients, the staff, and Sakura herself. Sakura's hope soars for a moment. "Ah, Katsuyu-sama, I'm so—"

 _Boom._

Nothing.

Or, rather, all her senses are so full, so overfull, that it comes across as nothing, as all the colours of the light spectrum make white.

A few moments ago she had her hands over a dying patient in Konoha Hospital's emergency department.

Now she's coming out from within Katsuyu-sama's cold, sticky mass. Sakura takes in a gasp of air. She looks down, and around, and orients herself. But there is no grasping this.

"No… no, no, it can't… how… why…"

She's in a crater. Far in the distance she can see partially destroyed parts of Konoha. So this crater is the hospital, and the Hokage Tower, and her old academy, and her apartment, and so much more.

So many more _people_.

Some of the staff and a few patients are emerging from slug portions, but too many aren't.

Her hands that were so close to saving someone can only slap against rubble. In her despair, she screams out the only hope she knows. "Naruto! Please hurry, Naruto!"

—

Blackness, as far as the eye can see… if eyes mean anything here.

Gingerly, Kakashi touches his closed left eye. There's no eyeball behind the lid. Apparently he's not taking Obito's eye to the afterlife.

 _Obito… I guess I won't be your eye anymore…_

His hand moves down his face to his neck. Even though it's covered in fabric, it's so thin (for flexibility and breathability) that he can feel clearly that the slightly raised scar of Rin's mark is gone as well.

That's just as well. He didn't deserve to carry her with him as long as he did, anyway.

 _I failed at even protecting Rin… I broke my promise… please forgive me, both of you… when I see you…_

 _Obito… Rin… sensei… now… I'll see you all again…_

He walks aimlessly, and a faint glow appears. Kakashi walks towards it and it takes shape into a fire with hewn logs or stones or something set nearby, and a figure with its back to him.

"Kakashi…?"

Kakashi could almost laugh. Of all the people, of course this is who he meets first. "…So, this is where you've been."

He sits down next to his father, both of them staring into the crackling fire.

"Will you tell me your story?" Sakumo says.

"Yes… but it'll take a long time, since I'm going to tell you everything…"

"Yeah… no problem."

Kakashi looks over with a smile. "So, tou-san… I guess I should start at the beginning…"

He tells the fire and his father the whole sordid mess. How Kakashi didn't understand Sakumo's decisions, and was determined to be a shinobi who obeys the rules. Minato-sensei's genius… and his kindness. His first team. Rin's crush and Obito's jealousy. Missions, with various teams. Becoming a jounin. The mission where he lost his eye and gained Obito's. His choice to bond with Rin to keep her safe, and how it didn't protect her after all. The kyuubi attack and how he almost came under the thrall of Danzo during his time in ANBU. How he came back from that edge and remained loyal to the Hokage. How his friends… or, at that point, people who called him friend… convinced the Hokage to take him out of ANBU and make him a jounin sensei. The many teams he failed.

The team he didn't fail. And yet the team that he would fail worse than he could have imagined.

All throughout, his father listens without interruption, not even an affirmative noise.

The mission to Wave, and another youth dead with his hand clutching their heart. His awful choices leading up to, throughout, and after the Chuunin Exams. Orochimaru's attack and its dreadful loss of life. The years that followed of constant missions, and then, reuniting with his two former students. How much they had both improved without him.

Saving Gaara. Teaching Naruto the Rasengan. Chasing Sasuke. And then, another invasion, and his own death.

When it is all done, Kakashi swallows around the lump in his throat, waiting for what his father has to say about it all.

Instead, Sakumo says, "Is there anything you've wanted to ask me?"

"I've wanted to ask so many things, dad… but… as I've gotten older, I feel like I've figured out the answers to most of them."

"If that's the case, then I'm just so relieved you didn't accept the answers the way I did."

"Well… there is one thing… what was my mother like?"

The log shifts a bit as Sakumo turns towards his son. His face is surprised, and then saddened. "You… don't remember her?"

"Not really… there's only… you didn't keep any pictures, so I'm not even sure if the face I remember…"

"But I did keep pictures, boxes of them, in the shed. Not just pictures… her things…"

"Oh. Well, after I found you, I just… never went back there. Minato-sensei brought my things to my new apartment."

" _You_ found me? No, you were… you were on a mission… I never intended…"

"We got back early. But… in some ways I'm glad I saw you like that because I'm not sure I would have believed it otherwise." Kakashi closes his other eye. "To me, you were… just my father, and I couldn't understand the way I do now, why you chose what you did, knowing what the reaction would be from the village. I couldn't understand why you would defy the village expectations to save your comrades, but then give into the village expectations by killing yourself to punish yourself and cleanse our name. I couldn't… with a child's mind, I couldn't make those two pieces fit together. So I just stuck with the simple idea, that you made a horrible choice, one that I would never repeat—the choice to value comrades over the mission."

Kakashi opens his eye and stares at the fire. "But I came to realize too late that wasn't the mistake."

After a long pause, Sakumo says, "You wear your mask because of her."

"What?"

"She wore one just like that… to cover up her Inuzuka clan tattoos, because she left the clan to marry me. Inuzuka Mimi, that was her name when I met her… at a bar, if you can believe it. She was only eighteen and she snuck in with that damned mutt of hers putting his paws up on the bar and she loudly ordered a pint of sake, as if that was a thing… with her crazy hair and her friends giggling and I… I was just smitten immediately…"

Kakashi is glad they can both look at the fire.

"You wanted a mask to be like her… she was everything to you… to both of us… I can't believe you can't remember…"

Kakashi clears his throat. "How did she die?"

"The Chuunin Exams… but that was my fault too… Suna nin, just after the truce… they said it was an accident but I knew very well it was revenge…"

"She was a proctor?"

"No, she was a genin. She wasn't…" He laughs. "She was a terrible ninja, Kakashi. Loud, no subtlety to her at all. No filter on her mouth, either. She wasn't much of a fighter… oh, but she was so proud of how amazing you were… I can still see you riding on Yukimaru with her, holding on to her waist. She took you on all her missions. They were just finding lost objects, that sort of thing. She was good at that… even when you were two and three you could keep up with her. She'd complain with the biggest smile on her face. 'Sakkun, he's going to outrank me when he's six!'"

"She called you Sakkun?!"

They laugh together.

—

Sakura scrambles over the rocks towards a small cluster of survivors, the massive Gamakichi towering over the rest. She can recognize Hinata-chan's guardian Ko, and a few masked ANBU. She's far from a sensor type, but the massive waves of evil chakra are unmistakably the same as that horrible day when Naruto lost control of his tailed beast. "What's going on?!"

"Hinata-sama… she went to try to save Naruto and…" says Ko.

 _No! Not Hinata-chan too!_ "Don't tell me!"

Huge explosions, rings of fire and flame, unearthly roars and howls. "Whoaaaaa…" says the ANBU. "What the hell is that?"

"What's Naruto doing?" Sakura demands from Ko.

"I can't describe it… he has… six tails and… at this rate he might go all the way to nine!"

"Six?! That's already more than… Katsuyu-sama! Please direct everyone to flee the area!"

"Wait…" Ko says. "Pain is fleeing the area and Naruto is pursuing him!"

"Nah nah nah!" Gamakichi jeers. "That'll teach him!"

"How can you laugh at a time like this?" snaps Sakura. "We have to rescue Hinata while we can, and then come up with a plan! When Naruto is in this state, he'll attack anyone, friend or foe!" _How am I going to get ahold of Yamato?_

They catch up with Hinata's unconscious body at the same time as Team Guy arrives. Katsuyu fills them in on what's happening as Sakura brings Hinata back from the brink of death. She quickly scans her body and is gratified that at least Hinata used an emergency heat suppressant before her charge into certain death.

"Still healing others after all this time, Sakura-san! Amazing! Keep it up!" says Lee.

"Uh, thanks Lee-san."

"Lee! Don't distract Sakura! Medical ninjutsu is really complicated!" Tenten is visibly exhausted and disheartened.

"Can I assist, Sakura-san?"

"No thank you, Neji-san," Sakura says. "She's stable. You'd be more useful using your Byakugan to see if there's anyone else around who needs help… or watching Naruto."

 _Hinata-chan truly loves Naruto this much… that she went in against such odds, unwilling to watch him die without doing the little she can… if there was even a one in a billion chance that she could do something…_

She busies herself with Hinata as the Byakugan users and Katsuyu keep them informed about the fight.

"Uuggh…" Hinata's eyelids flutter. Sakura pulls back into a crouch as Hinata groggily sits up and looks at her. "Thank you, Sakura-chan."

Sakura sighs. "Hinata-chan… you really went too far, you know!"

A portion of Katsuyu chirps, "Naruto-san has destroyed the sixth Pain."

—

"In the end, Otou-san… you did your best. I saw it at last, and I understood you… you broke the rules for the sake of others. I'm proud to be your son."

As his father thanks him, Kakashi is suddenly illuminated from a shaft of light. It's the strangest sensation, like breaking out of a genjutsu in ultra-slow motion.

"What's happening?"

"I guess you came too soon. You must be needed back there for something," his father… no, his father's _spirit_ says. It's as if Kakashi is becoming realer and realer, and his father is dissipating.

"Otou-san…"

"But I'm glad that we could talk," continues the strange, unreal voice. "Because of your forgiveness, I can finally move on in peace… and see your mother—"

Everything becomes blinding white. No, not blinding. _Seeing._

He's seeing the real world again.

"Oh, Kakashi too huh."

"Kakashi-sensei?!"

"What the hell…" gasps Kakashi. He opens Obito's eye briefly as he looks down at his gloved hands. Everything's as it was.

"I shall explain everything." Katsuyu's voice is as sweet, calm, and cultured as ever. "I was with Naruto-san all throughout."

Everything's _not_ as it was.

He looks around at the devastation, not even recognizable as Konoha anymore. Of course everything's not as it was… not as it was…

"After you died, Kakashi-san, Chouji-san was able to communicate the information to Tsunade-sama, but the enemy used a powerful version of the repelling jutsu to crush Konoha from the centre out, about a ten kilometre blast radius."

Kakashi grips his neck with his hand.

 _Rin's gone…_


	12. Chapter 12

"He's almost here! I see them!" A Hyuuga shouts.

The rest of the villagers without ocular jutsu stand on tiptoes, crane around each other, prop kids up onto shoulders. Despite standing literally among ruins, there's almost a festival atmosphere.

After all, everyone is _alive_.

Sakura isn't looking in the right spot, and when the shouts at his appearance begin, she only catches a glimpse of Naruto and Kakashi-sensei before they're swallowed up by the crowd. She fights her way forward.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto says, and people part slightly to let her through to the hero.

She bops the top of his head—gently, by her standards, but he still lets out a loud whine as she scolds him. "You made me worried sick, idiot!"

Then she catches him to herself and steals his breath with a tight hug, tears leaking from her eyes. "Thank you…"

At first, Naruto is frozen within her grasp. Her cheek is pressed against his, and she feels his head slowly move, as if panning the crowds. Then, hesitantly, he lifts his arms up and awkwardly returns her hug.

They release the hug and she smiles at him through her tears. "Everyone's alive!"

Naruto laughs. "Yeah. Yeah, they are, dattebayo!"

"Cheers for Naruto the hero!" someone shouts. Sakura laughs as people begin chanting _hero, hero, hero,_ and draws back a bit as people lift Naruto into the crowd and begin tossing him into the air.

"Everything will go back to the way it was soon, just like you said, huh Kaka-sensei?" Sakura says cheerfully. "Naruto is so strong now…"

"You're talking about Sasuke?"

She tilts her head up to him. "Well, of course, Sasuke-kun. After all, if Naruto can defeat Pain…!"

Kakashi doesn't answer her. His face is frowning now. He's not looking at Naruto, and Sakura follows his gaze and sees Nara Shikaku speaking to an ANBU.

"So everything will be the way it was soon, right, Kakashi-sensei? Like you said?"

"Sakura! Kakashi-san!"

They both turn to see Shizune-sempai running up to them. "I need you to come with me right away! And bring Naruto too."

—

"I don't get it," Naruto says as they all look down on Tsunade's haggard face. "You and Kaka-sensei are walking around just fine, how come Nagato's jutsu didn't bring Baa-chan back too?"

"It must be that she never actually died, Naruto," says Sakura. She has a faint green glow to her hand as it hovers over Tsunade's head. "She's in a chakra exhaustion coma… but it's deeper than anything I've ever seen before… it's like when I attempt to give her a little chakra, it just disappears into a black hole. I even thought maybe it was a poisoning, but I'm not detecting any toxins."

"It might have to do with the seal," says Shizune. "Katsuyu-sama also said something about 'loans and repayment' before she disappeared. It's beyond _my_ abilities, Sakura… I hoped maybe you would see something I missed."

"I've never seen something like this before." Sakura ceases her chakra treatment and pulls slightly on Tsunade's top to reveal a wavy red line. "Look, even her bond mark is feathered at the edges, as if her body is attempting to leech the foreign chakra. That's incredible…"

"Sakura…" Kakashi stares up at the tent pole as he talks. "Bondmarks are permanent… right?"

"Well, that's what the literature says," says Sakura.

"The mark itself is simply a hub, or perhaps more accurately a nodule," says Shizune matter-of-factly, as if these words should be self-evident in their meaning. Sakura nods, and Shizune continues. "If the flesh with a mark is cut away, or even an amputated limb, for example, the mark simply regrows on nearby flesh."

"What, really?" says Sakura, fascinated. "Have you seen that in the field?"

"Several times," answers Shizune. "The original bite scar, if there is one, doesn't recur, but the size and shape of the mark itself is the name, though perhaps misshapen by the differing site. A mark on a finger, for example, was one instance, and after the loss of the finger, it reappeared on the knuckle. It had wrapped around the finger but on the knuckle it was flat, so it looked somewhat different."

"That's amazing. How long did it take to reappear?"

Sakura and Shizune begin to chatter about _proprioceptors_ and _chakrathesia_ and _gastrulation—_ "although of course that term isn't really accurate," says Sakura, and Shizune nods and adds "but it helps to contextualize the dorsal-ventral axis".

"Kakashi-sensei," whispers Naruto, tugging on Kakashi's sleeve and looking glazed, "do you think we could go look for some ramen packages in the rubble?"

—

Among his first acts, Yamato raised up a hospital. It's bigger and better than the previous structure, honestly, but there isn't actually much to do there, even with Tsunade unconscious and Shizune keeping vigil around the clock. Most of the injuries during the assault had been fatal, and everyone who was resurrected came back fully healthy; and for the time being, no one is going out on missions.

However, she ends up getting a flood of alphas and omegas who died in the fighting, panicking about the disappearance of their mark. The first case she's fascinated: she can see the bite scar, but there's no trace whatsoever of any foreign chakra. It's extra fascinating because the bond partner still has _her_ mark; she hadn't died, and she had gone through bond shock at the initial death. She still had his chakra in her mark, but no information about his location, as if he was still dead. The unmarked man also had no sense of his bondmate. Sakura had paused to record all this data down, since it had important implications for the still mysterious matter of how bonded couples' awareness of each other functions.

It ends up being a rather straightforward fix. His mate is able to reapply the mark through the usual means of a bite during orgasm (which they did on the exam table, pleading the excuse that their home was destroyed and the temporary shelters have no privacy; Sakura told them they had a half an hour, which she spent on the opposite end of the building, giving Neji, Shikamaru, and a few others an impromptu lesson in tourniquets). The mark reappeared, and the couple reported everything went back to the way it was, without Sakura needing to do anything. As for the people who had already lost their mate, it appeared that they were now back to an unmarked existence and there wasn't anything she could do for them either.

It quickly gets repetitive telling this over and over to people. She sets up the staff with informative packets about the situation and heads out to the reconstruction efforts, which are good, honest, mind-clearing physical work. Tazuna the bridge builder had brought a group of expert carpenters with him from the Land of Waves, and with their knowledge and shinobi strength and speed, the building was going fast.

"Wow, Sakura-nee-chan is so strong now!" says Inari between swings of his adze, chopping away at a log. Sakura knows nothing about architecture, but she can follow directions. She holds the central post steady as Naruto's clones buzz around, joining lintels and lesser posts as they form the frame of the house.

"Sakura-chan's smart too," says one clone. "She can heal anything. When I get in trouble, she takes care of me."

Another clone says, "Yeah! Sakura-chan is the best!"

"Naruto!" says Sakura, blushing.

"So she's Naruto-nii-san's girlfriend?"

"Uh…"

"Well…"

"Um…"

The clones hedge and waver, which surprises Sakura. Naruto's always enthusiastically blustered to Konohamaru that she was his girlfriend. What's changed?

"We're really good friends," says Sakura. The clones blush, rub their necks and laugh, and she shakes her head with an indulgent smile. "Like best friends. We've been through a lot together."

Inari frowns "Really? You can be best friends with a girl?"

"Naruto has many best friends," Sakura says, a light flush to her face that she hopes comes off as exertion..

"Is Sasuke-nii-san his best friend too?"

Tazuna saves them from having to respond when he huffs over, grumbling around from clone to clone. "You can't force it," he says. "This is traditional architecture, yes? Best quality, best craftsmanship. No nails. So the fit has to be perfect. You hammer too hard—the wood cracks. Maybe the crack is small to begin with, but as the wood breathes with the seasons, it'll get wider and wider and then—boom. No more house."

"It's a ninja village, jii-chan," a clone huffs back, and another one adds, "Yeah, it'll probably get blown to pieces before that happens."

"You, girlie," Tazuna barks at Sakura, ignoring Naruto. "Just hold steady, alright? Keep it together while I check this dimwit's work."

The clones all bang out of existence, leaving just one Naruto behind. "Argh! I'm not a dimwit! Gah!" He stomps over to the refreshment station and twists open a bottle of sports drink with such zest that the bottle explodes in his hands, spraying him all over with the sugary liquid while Iruka-sensei, who was manning the station, laughs in treacherous amusement.

"Always forcing things," grumbles Tazuna. "Probably the love triangle too, eh?"

"There's no love triangle," Sakura protests faintly, eyeing Naruto who is yelling at Iruka-sensei about his stupid defective bottles while Iruka-sensei yells right back about Naruto's lack of restraint. "It's not as simple as that."

"Hmph. Well." Tazuna walks back up to her. "There's more than one kind of love triangle. The three of you had something special, I saw it even back then. Or perhaps I should say the four of you…"

Sakura turns her head to follow his gaze. Kakashi is strolling up to the work site, one of his _Icha Icha_ in his hand, stepping nimbly over stacks of timbers without looking up.

"I'm a carpenter, so I always watch how things fit together, see?" Tazuna's voice brings her attention back to him. "I have to see how they fit, and I have to see how they'll fit as they change. You mix different kinds of wood, for example, if they don't shrink and expand at the same rate…"

"Boom?" fills in Sakura.

"Not necessarily a collapse. It depends on whether you planned and adapted for the contrast. You can even mix wood and stone, after all, and they're very different. You can let go now."

"What?" _I have no idea what that means…_

"The pillar." He nods at the central pillar she's still holding stationary. "Let it go."

"Oh." She lets go and stands back, and nothing happens. "I think… I'll go join Naruto for some refreshment."

The farms around Konoha weren't damaged, so at least food isn't a problem. It's a chilly winter day despite the sun and the exertion, and the meal station is handing out hot sweet potatoes and sticks of grilled chicken. Sakura grabs an extra sweet potato and thrusts it at Naruto as she sits down next to him on a massive log that's serving as a temporary bench.

"Ehe, thanks Sakura-chan, but—"

"No buts! It's good for you!" She bites a piece of chicken, ignoring the way Naruto's eyes dart to the juicy meat.

He sighs and peels away the wrapping to take a bite. They eat in silence for a bit, until Naruto says, "Hey, Sakura-chan? Can I ask you a question… about girls?"

Sakura pokes the roof of her mouth with the yakitori stick. "About girls?!"

"I dunno… something strange happened… I guess I don't really understand… I mean, you know, I've always liked Sakura-chan…"

Sakura's cheeks heat up. "N-naruto! You c-can't say things like that!"

"But that's what I mean that I don't understand," he says, frowning at the sweet potato. "What if someone _does_ say that?"

"Eh?"

"Like… if a girl says, 'I love you,' to a guy… what does that mean?"

"Well if she says that, then she loves him, of course!"

"But what does she mean by that? Like… what do you mean when you… say it to Sasuke?" He's addressing the potato.

Sakura feels all the annoyance evaporate out of her. How should she respond? Why is he thinking about Sasuke? This just seems too cruel.

"I really do want to know," Naruto says, still staring at the potato. "You know, Sasuke would always say I didn't understand him because I didn't know what it was like to lose anything. It made me really angry because I thought I did… but I know now I really didn't. So of course it didn't matter what I said to him in the Valley of the End dattebayo. Because of what happened… I understand him a lot more now…"

Naruto lifts his head up and adopts the braggadocio posture that somehow evokes Jiraiya-sama. "'I believe the day will come when we finally understand each other!'…"

He lets his shoulders drop back down and takes a bite. Sakura says nothing.

"Pervy Sage said that, and I said to Pain… that if there is a way to peace, that I will find it dattebayo! But there's the problem, I understand Sasuke more now because I suffered… I understand why he wants vengeance… so how can people understand each other without undergoing the same suffering? I don't know what her sufferings are… I don't know, it's all jumbled up… but I really want to know what a girl means, to say that kind of thing to a guy…"

"Well…" Sakura speaks to her own sweet potato, stomach twisting with past dreams of Sasuke-kun. "That she cares about him a lot… that she wants to be with him, and make him happy… I mean, girls are not all the same either, Naruto! What brought this on?"

"Hinata."

That Hinata-chan loves Naruto is not surprising—that she said it is. "She said, 'I love you,' like that?"

"Yeah," Naruto says mournfully, "like that."

"Well… Hinata-chan is a very sincere kind of girl, you know? If she confessed her feelings, then she means it. But how do you feel about her?"

"I don't know. I never really noticed her… I mean, she's my friend…"

"You should get to know her better, then, right? I mean, a declaration of love is a big thing… but you can still take it slow, I think. Like I said, that when a girl loves someone, that she wants to be with them… you can spend some time with her…"

"Like… sparring?"

"Shannaro!" Sakura rolls her eyes. "Like a date!"

"A date…" Naruto looks at her, blue eyes wide.

"And I'll talk to Hinata-chan too," she says firmly. "Oh! Sit with us, Kaka-sensei!"

Kakashi-sensei turns, just finishing shifting his mask back into place. He waves a hand holding several yakitori sticks and a crumpled up potato wrapper at them.

 _Damn, another opportunity to see his face gone!_

"Maa, just look at the two of you," he says as he strolls up to them. "Sometimes I feel like I blink and you two have changed yet again. What happened to my cute little genin?"

"Well, _Naruto's_ still a genin."

"Oi, oi, Sakura-chan!"

"Now, Naruto, is that any way to speak to your superior?" Kakashi-sensei taps Naruto on the head with his smut.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey! Why are you all such jerks dattebayo!"

"Especially when she gives such good advice," their former teacher continues mildly, as if Naruto wasn't having an arm-flailing conniption centimetres from his face. "It really is important to take things slow."

 _He was listening to us?_

"Guys! Big news and it's bad!" Kiba rides Akamaru at a gallop up to them. "The daimyo has named a new Hokage and it's some guy named Danzo! I don't know much about him, but he seems like bad news—and it gets worse! He's declared Sasuke a missing nin—wanted dead or alive!"

—

Kakashi is used to making hand seals effortlessly because of the Sharingan's effect on the memory, but he has to actually think and remember to make the right seals to open his father's door.

Someone—Minato-sensei? ANBU? Sandaime-sama?—must have covered the few pieces of furniture he can see from the door and packed everything away. Not that there was much. The house followed the most traditional style.

It isn't as dusty as he expected. Nor did he expect the plants creeping in and the silence beneath his foot as the floor gives a little. It used to be a nightingale floor that squeaked and squealed when walked upon—a last little bit of physical security, very old-fashioned.

Kakashi turns and places his hand on a innocent looking part of the wall, wondering if this will work after all these years, but it does. A soft click and a pop and the keys are revealed to him. He takes the keys to the shed and walks out.

The fireproofed shed is definitely mustier and dustier, and he's glad for the filtering effect of his mask. There's a stool here and he sits on it gingerly, but it holds his weight. He has to hunt for the candle and is chagrined to find that it fell among rat droppings. Should he just make do with the indirect sunlight?

He opens all the tiny windows and pauses with his arms on the windowsill, wondering if he really wants to do this. As much as he knows that what he experienced was real, he's not sure he wants to admit to himself that he really died and that he went to a place where his father's dead spirit had been trapped for twenty odd years, where his father told him where to find pictures of his mother.

 _"So… have there been any girls?"_

 _"Dad…" Well, this was weird. Thirty years old and a professional assassin with a kill count over a thousand and he was cringing like a teenager. Like he had never actually as a teenager._

 _"I'm guessing you would have mentioned grandchildren."_

 _Kakashi couldn't help the bitter laugh. "No. From me? No."_

 _The fire crackled._

 _"There was a girl," he said finally. "But it was a mistake. The girl I told you about. The one… the one I killed. She was… we were… I only wanted to protect her…"_

 _"Oh, Kakashi…"_

He rubs at his unmarked neck self-consciously.

 _"It's difficult to explain… women, and all that, are complicated enough, Kakashi, but when it comes to a mate…"_

 _"Well, it's a bit late for advice on the subject."_

But here he was. Alive. Unmarked. A second chance?

A second chance not to drag another person down with him, at best.

He reaches forward quickly, to forestall his own hesitation, and practically rips open a box marked with the kanji for _memento._

But it's not about his mother at all.

His sullen childhood face stares accusingly at him from the top of the stack, holding his new forehead protector. Memories assault him.

 _"So where do you want to wear it, Kakashi?"_

 _"On my forehead, of course, Father. I'm not the kind of silly show-off who wears it in some absurd place, like my waist. I'm a true ninja."_

He closes the box back up quickly, locks the shed, walks blindly, head swimming too much for even _Icha Icha_ to stop the howling within. The monument? His apartment. He stops and looks around. He's at the gate.

"Kakashi!"

A hand slams between Kakashi's shoulder blades in an over the top imitation of a friendly back pat, knocking the breath out of him and making him stumble forward. His book slips out of his fingers and he juggles it for a moment before getting a good grip on it and shoving it into his pocket. "Guy."

The grinning green menace takes a deep breath. "Snow is coming, Kakashi! Can you smell it, my rival?"

"Uh..." Kakashi blinks as Guy dramatically sweeps his hand in the direction of Konoha's still-standing gate, where crews are moving supplies through.

"So we must put our backs into the reconstruction!" He makes to slap Kakashi's back again, but Kakashi parries. Somehow Guy turns Kakashi's parry into an absurdly complicated handshake. "Agreed!"

"Wait, that wasn't—" Chakra flares announcing the imminent return of a team thankfully interrupts.

Aburame Shibi hails Kakashi outside the gate, with his Inuzuka team and their dogs close behind, but it is the fifth person with them who speaks first.

"Well what the ding dong doodle happened to your town, eh?"

Kakashi stares at the bronze-eyed jinchuuriki while Shibi coughs and says, "Our mission was a success, as you can see, Kakashi-san… we found Fuu-san's trail, and at the end of it, Fuu-san, as you can see, in good condition… and I must admit that we are also curious about what has occurred in Konoha in our absence."

Fuu puts her hands on her hips. "Is he always like this? Do you live with this every day?"

Inuzuka Mayu throws back her head and bark-laughs. "I like her!"

"They say it's the whole clan, eh? That so? They say it's the bugs," Fuu persists, "but the bug in me'd beat any of them, eh. You don't see it weighing me down any."

Kakashi smiles a little despite himself, but drops the smile when Shibi speaks again. "So, we need to report to Hokage-sama, but we're not sure where she is, or as we have intimated, what has occurred, and so, when I saw you, I thought to query you—"

"I wanna know about the town first eh!" Fuu lets out a low whistle. "I mean heck, maybe I'd be safer on my own after all!"

"Pain attacked," Kakashi says. "They wanted Naruto. Naruto defeated him, although as you can see, there was great property damage. It's a long story, but ultimately there was no loss of life."

Fuu whistles again. "I'd like to meet Naruto! Sounds like a good friend to have."

"He is," Kakashi agrees somberly. "Regarding Godaime-sama, however, Shibi-san, she's in a coma, and—'

"And Rokudaime-sama will receive your mission report, Aburame-sama." A masked ANBU has suddenly appeared among them. "The outsider must leave. No outsiders in the village by order of Danzo-sama."

"Well the heck's with you buddy?" Fuu points at her flat stomach and says, "You're just gonna kick out a pregnant lady? When Konoha's the only place with experience with pregnant jinchuuriki? Don't you have any feelings?"

"No," says the ANBU. "We must obey Danzo-sama."

"I am sure that Danzo-sama would want to see a jinchuuriki," says Kakashi.

"Hokage-sama gave orders—"

"I'll take responsibility for Fuu-san, and I am sure Aburame-sama will as well."

Shibi backs him swiftly. "Absolutely, ANBU-san."

The ROOT member's adherence to instructions wars with her respect for authority. Kakashi tips the balance when he adds, "It would save time to just let her come with Aburame-sama."

The pig mask slowly dips in a nod. "Hai. Follow me."

But the sound of a scuffle and a sudden spike in chakra attracts them all to detour to where a fight has cooled down between three Cloud ninja on one side and Naruto, Sakura, and Sai on the other.

"Good gravy," mutters Fuu from behind Kakashi's shoulder.

"I'm a jinchuuriki too," Naruto is saying, "so I know exactly why they're after your sensei! Just like how they took Gaara! They want to capture us alive to extract the tailed beast, so instead of seeking revenge, you should be focused on rescuing him! He might still be alive -ttebayo!"

"Are you serious?" says a young man with a lollipop stick in his mouth.

"Yeah! I knew Killer B-sensei couldn't be dead!" shouts a wild-eyed young woman beside him.

"Regardless," says the third Cloud ninja, coolly eyeing Kakashi and the others who just arrived, "our orders from the Raikage are clear, and we need to report to him—"

"That's the eight tails jinchuuriki, eh? Killer B? Yeah, he's not dead, he's not even captured, ya know," Fuu says.

"How do you know that?" shouts one Cloud nin while another says, "Who are you?"

"I'm Fuu! I'm pleased to meet you!" She does a cute pose. "I hope we can all be friends, I've never met someone from Hidden Cloud before. And um…" Fuu tilts her head. "…how I know… is it a secret? Hmm… I've always heard people saying, 'don't kiss and tell,' buuuuuuut…" She tilts her head the other way. "It's a matter of national importance, eh?"

"It could mean war, Fuu-san—and they want to kill our friend, so please tell us what you know!"

"Oh, hello Sakura-san!" Fuu waves merrily. "Well… my… mmm…. mate, is a member of the Akatsuki…"

"What?!" Practically everyone listening, except Shibi, makes some variation of this. Even the Root ANBU makes a snort of disbelief.

"Yeah," Fuu laughs. "I don't actually know his name! Big sharky guy, cool sword, blue skin, ring any bells?"

Guy frowns. "Hmm! Never heard of anyone like it!"

"Hoshigaki Kisame is his name," says Kakashi politely.

"Oh, thank you very much! Kisame… Kisame Kisame Kisame…" She appears to be evaluating over the name for a moment, then abruptly claps her hands together. "Right, the eight tails! Well, my mate… Kisame," She pauses to tap on her lip with a pleased smile. "Kisame, he _was_ supposed to capture me buuuuuuut… I caught him instead. Ha!" She claps her hands together again. "I haven't quite reeled him in yet. But I'm determined!" She makes a fist. "That fish is on my hook for sure, ya know!"

"The eight tails, Fuu-san," prompts Sakura.

"Right! Eight tails! Yeah, so, we were… mmmmmmm…. negotiating, but he got the call to extract the eight tails, buuuuuut it turned out that the eight tails jinchuuriki fooled them all and substituted a double! Ha!" She makes an air punch with her fist. "So my mate… Kisame… Kisame got reassigned to go find the eight tails. Which is what he's doing now. He's still super committed, eh? He's gonna be a tough fish, buuuuuut I'm the best bait there is, so I'm not worried! Oh! And I want the names of all my new friends! You!" She points at Naruto. "You're a jinchuuriki too, eh? Wanna be friends?"

"Name's Naruto dattebayo!" They shake with every sign of being instant bosom companions.

"Hokage-sama will want to know all of this," says Sai, and then adds, "and I am Sai. And would be pleased to make a friend."

"We must report to the Raikage," says the Cloud squad leader. "Karui, Omoi, come."

"Hey, you might want to keep in touch, you know!" yells Fuu at their receding backs. "Sheesh. Are they idiots? I know exactly where my mate is, you'd think they'd find that information useful eh?"

—

"So what's the deal here eh?" Fuu tilts her head. "Y'all got no town but you got a spa? The heck?"

"The attack that levelled the town did so from the centre out, Fuu-san," Sakura answers, a bit overwhelmed by her Danzo-appointed job as Fuu's guide/watchdog. She's always countered outsized personalities like Naruto's with equal pushback of her own, and she isn't quite sure how to act around this honoured guest, or prisoner, or whatever she is in this Konoha gone mad. "This onsen is on the outskirts, so it wasn't really damaged, and since most people are still living in temporary housing without plumbing and are short on goods like apparel, this is serving as public baths. And they'll wash and dry our clothes while we're inside."

"Sakura-chan! All you got are the clothes on your back, really?" The taller and older girl throws an arm around Sakura's shoulder for a side hug, throwing Sakura physically and mentally off-balance again. "Poor thing."

"Uh… eheh. This way."

The front desk is temporarily unmanned, since in the wake of the disaster the village budget is paying to have the onsen free for use for all. Sakura leads Fuu to the women's locker, where the onsen's landlady Kitade-san is looking harassed by the increased traffic, ordering her staff around as she herself pitches in by receiving the dirty clothes and labeling them.

Staring is generally considered bad form in an onsen, but Sakura isn't sure she blames those who stop to gawk at what Fuu reveals from underneath her crop top. Between her breasts is the locus of a seal which runs over her left breast like a spray, intricate and mesmerizing.

It certainly catches Kitade-san's attention when Fuu waltzes over to surrender her clothing. "No tattoos," she says firmly, pointing to a large sign at the top of the wall with ONSEN RULES written on top of it.

"A tattoo? Isn't this a Hidden Village? Obasan, these are seals ya know!" Fuu grabs a handful of boob and points at it unnecessarily. "Even checked out by one of your own jounin, so they're completely fine!"

Kitade-san makes a quick recovery. "We also don't allow foreigners."

"No foreigners?! That's not—"

"Kitade-san, this is Danzo-sama's special guest Fuu-san," Sakura cuts in, and is prepared to explain further but Kitade-san's eyes widen.

"Oh, well, of course, that is different!" She fumbles as she grabs Sakura's clothing from her, nearly dropping some of it. "Risa! Risa, show our honoured guests to the Sumire bath."

"The Sumire? But that's—"

"Yes, yes, the Sumire, I know! Unless you have a vacant room in your pocket!" Without looking at Sakura or Fuu, she thrusts yukata and slippers at them.

"Hey, that's not—" Fuu begins again as she takes a yukata.

"Yes, ma'am." The servant bows and gives them an official smile. "This way please."

"That's _not very friendly ya know_!" Fuu yells over her shoulder at the landlady as Sakura hustles them off after the servant.

Sakura has only ever been in the women's group bath portion, adjacent to the women's changing room, but they follow the servant down dim wooden hallways towards the ryokan inn end of the business. Doors are unlocked, and they suddenly blink into sunshine. The air is crisp and snips at their ankles as they pad down little steps.

"Excuse me," the servant says, but she is not addressing either of them, but rather the occupant of the matcha-coloured tub enclosed in a high fence lined with pine trees. "Because of the crowding, we need you to share your bath, Hinata-sama. We do apologize."

"O-oh! That's—it's fine! We're—well, I haven't met—but Sakura-san is my friend and—it's fine!" Hinata-chan's blank eyes, as ever, provide a weirdly placid centre to the confusion and discomfort on the rest of her face from attempting to communicate that she was friends with Sakura, but strangers with Fuu, and didn't mind the presence of either. Her cheeks were already pink from the bath. "This is my last dip anyway!"

The servant bows to them all and retreats.

"Hinata-chan, this is Fuu-san, a jounin of Takigakure. Fuu-san, Hyuuga Hinata is the heiress of the Hyuuga clan." Sakura never had to introduce someone to someone else while one of them was naked and the other was stripping off her yukata to become naked before.

"I'm not... that is to say, my cousin Neji is... I am very glad and I hope that he will... to be truthful, I do not think..."

"You shouldn't downplay yourself, Hinata-chan!" Sakura turns to Fuu, who is rinsing her body in a business like manner while frowning at the tub's water. "Hinata-chan is an expert user of her clan's special technique of Gentle Fist and a superb sensor as well."

"Ah, superb is a b-bit much..."

"Is that soup?" Fuu points at the murky green water.

Hinata seems to relax a small amount at the introduction of a topic that is not related to her specifically. "It's a medicinal blend mixed with the spring water. A Hyuuga clan blend for the skin..."

"Ah?" Sakura hangs up her yukata and pads over the water, analyzing it. _Burdock... orange peel... peony root... tea leaf... skullcap..._

"Ah, really? Okay for a pregnant woman?"

"Oh! Ah, congratulations, Fuu-san, uh, yes! Yes, in fact we make a cream from some of the same ingredients to aid the stretching of the skin—"

"Why sappanwood?" Sakura's brows furrow.

"How did you—oh, of course, Sakura-chan, you would know. Ah, I don't really know... it's not in the cream, only the bath mix..." She blinks as Fuu settles herself in the tub right next to Hinata, instead of leaving a discreet amount of space between them.

"Sorry about your town and all," Fuu says cheerfully. "Wanna be friends?"

"I, uh, of course, that is, u-um," Hinata's eyes always look blank but her face turns towards Sakura with a certain amount of supplication. "We've just met, so you don't know me very well..."

 _Poor Hinata-chan still can't imagine anyone actually wanting to be her friend._ "Fuu-san reminds me a lot of Naruto," Sakura says, "So I'm sure you'll get along, Hinata-chan."

"You should call me Fuu-chan too, hey!" Fuu demands as Sakura enters the tub at a more decorous pace. "No need to be strangers! No time for it when you're ninja ya know! Plus I'm basically a Leaf nin too now, eh."

That brings to the forefront of her mind something that had been bothering her. "Won't your village declare you a missing-nin?"

"Nah," says Fuu. "I sent the old man a note. He'll be mad but he'll get over it. Not like I'd ever really abandon Takigakure ya know! But he gets it. I mean, this is the only village that's ever had a jinchuuriki give birth successfully hey? So he should understand why I'd come."

"You're a jinchuuriki like Naruto?" Hinata asks.

"Sure am!" Fuu brandishes fingers at them both. "Seven Tails! Hey, it's so great that people in your village are so nice to jinchuuriki! Back in my town it was basically just me and the old man most of the time."

Hinata looks away. Sakura says awkwardly, "Uh... well, actually..."

To her surprise, though, Hinata speaks up. "We weren't always kind to him," she says softly. "Some people were... cruel... and for the most part he was just... avoided, or... sneered at. But Naruto, even though for the longest time no one acknowledged him, he never became bitter or full of hate, he never stopped trying... he is the strongest person I've ever met. I only wish... I only wish that I had had the courage earlier to approach him..."

That bring another issue to mind. Her promise to Naruto to speak to Hinata. It seems doubtful in these hectic days that she'll get another chance to speak to her... but the presence of Fuu will surely complicate things...

To Sakura's surprise though, Fuu brings the subject up herself. "You like him, hey?" She nudges the younger girl who flushes.

"W-well... w-w-well I..."

"Naruto said that you said you loved him," Sakura says, as gently as she can for how blunt it is.

"Giiiirl! That's what I like to see! Go and get it!" Fuu claps, splashing the herbal water about. "Ninja! No time to lose!"

"Well, I did but... but Sakura-chan..."

Hinata is a private and shy person and Sakura knows this, but it's like a tooth being extracted. There's no stopping it now. "Naruto brought it up to me because he was very confused about what you meant, and I said I would talk to you."

Hinata's face drops. "I thought I was going to die," she tells the water, "so it wouldn't matter. I just thought... if I could give him ten more seconds alive, ten more seconds to try, even a one in a million chance..."

"You thought that was worth your _life_?"

Hinata is silent, and Sakura realizes she's put more heat into her words than she intended.

"A love confession on the battlefield!" sighs Fuu. "How romantic. And now you have the chance to live it out! It's like, a dream come true eh?"

"But that doesn't mean you have to rush things," says Sakura. "Naruto is... well, he's not stupid exactly, but he's not exactly ready to settle down, either, and we're all young. Whatever the regrets of the past are..." Hinata raises her head, and Sakura thinks she's hit a nail, "none of us are the kids we were in the academy anymore, and none of us are where we want to be yet. We've all got a lot of growing and changing to do. But if you can give each other a... a special kind of support, and comfort... have fun together and laugh..." She steadfastly disregards unbidden girlish fantasies of Sasuke-kun from bygone days that float back to the front of her mind at the idea of together and laughing. "I think he might ask you on a date, and I think you should say yes."

Sakura smiles, and Hinata tentatively smiles back.

"I think any guy'd be crazy not to ask you out," says Fuu, wrecking the moment. "You Hyuugas got a formula for your hair too?"

"Ah, in fact, we do—"

"How about bigger boobs?" Hinata sputters, and Fuu sighs. "Yeah, I'm probably too old for anything to make a difference now. Bummer. Anyway, some men don't care. That Jiraiya-sama of yours, for instance—the entire time he was inspecting my seal—" She gestures to her nose. "Like a torrent, ugh. I took a shower as soon as he left. But I gotta say, he helped a lot with my tailed beast. Don't know if I could have escaped from those Akatsuki freaks otherwise."

"Akatsuki freaks? Which?" says Sakura.

"It was a shame. I always wanted to meet Kakuzu. Seemed like he ought to be a firecracker, from all I heard about him, but he was just mean. And the other guy..." She shook her head. "He got my bodyguards, and that's when I realized I was way over my head. I used my blinding skills to get away, though. Just flew like hell. Lucky for me they got called off of me and put onto the Two Tails and then they made you all angry so you took them out. And then Kisame was assigned to me and I got my own love story!"

 _Love story? With an S-class terrorist?!_

"Enemies to lovers is the _best_ ," Fuu challenges, perhaps gauging Sakura's incredulity. "You just wait. I'm gonna live a best seller!"

—

Kakashi kneels before Danzo with his eyes on the kanji for fire.

"When I leave the village to attend the summit," the Hokage says, "I am sure I can count on you to maintain order in my absence. We are all, of course, grateful for our jinchuuriki's defeat of a threat… but his arrival was so late. We suffered such catastrophic damage."

"The village will be rebuilt in no time, with assistance from our allies and Yamato's jutsu, Danzo-sama," Kakashi answers. "When it becomes known that not a single Leaf shinobi was lost, our enemies will know they have cause to fear the Leaf."

A chair scrapes. "Allies?"

"Hai, Danzo-sama. The building operation is being spearheaded by a talented builder from the Land of Waves—"

"Unacceptable. To let an outsider have such knowledge of our infrastructure? Why was I not informed of this? What was he building?"

Kakashi suppresses a noise of disgust. He unintentionally placed Tazuna's head in a noose; now he needs to get it off. "Merely housing, sir. He is a former Leaf client, and this help may perhaps better be seen as a late payment for the true value of the mission we performed for him."

Danzo grunts. "Ah, yes. I remember now. More foolishness, treating the jinchuuriki like a regular genin to begin with… and clients who lie should be abandoned to their fate, Kakashi. In the future, such a thing will not be allowed to happen, you understand?"

"I understand, sir."

"But back to present matters. I leave for the summit today, and I am expecting—"

He stopped because there was a scuffle and spiking chakra. Kakashi turns to the door, ready to attack, but instead who barges through is none other than Naruto, with a stiff Neji and a cringing Hinata in his wake.

"You need better guards dattebayo," Naruto begins without preamble. "Sorry if I killed them."

"You didn't," murmurs Neji, but Naruto doesn't seem to notice.

"What do you think you're doing?" says Danzo, ice cold and furious, but Naruto doesn't pay much attention to that either.

"Sorry," he says, not sounding sorry at all, "but it's an emergency! You need to marry us right now!"

Kakashi allows himself to close his eyes for a few moments. _The number one unpredictable knuckleheaded ninja… So that's what that smell is._

It takes Danzo a bit longer than that to respond, but he doesn't have Kakashi's experience with Naruto. " _Marry_ you? To a member of the Hyuuga main house? Are you out of your mind? I'd say you should apply to Hiashi-sama, but I can tell you, boy, forget it!"

"But we need to get married _right now!_ Hinata, she… well… y'know… and so I… and then we… and that's why we need to get married dattebayo!" Naruto blunders around, saying everything without actually saying anything.

Kakashi glances at Danzo and is secretly pleased to see that Danzo is speechless.

"If I may, Danzo-sama," Neji cuts in smoothly. "I can fully appreciate that you, as Hokage, with highest respect for the charters of the founding of Konoha, cannot interfere with Hyuuga internal affairs such as marriage, no matter how much you may rightly wish to help a hero of the Leaf." Neji pauses to give a highly unconvincing smile to Danzo. "But I have good news for you, Danzo-sama. Even the founders foresaw this kind of scenario. Knotted mates have special rights under the law." He steps forward, holding out a scroll. "I brought the relevant legislation, if you wish to see it."

Danzo reaches out his hand, but Neji does not relinquish the scroll, instead holding it as if he expects Danzo to take it with his useless bandaged arm. There is a strained pause, Neji's unconvincing smile never wavering.

"Ah, my mistake, Danzo-sama," Neji finally says, handing the scroll into the good hand. "How silly of me."

Danzo doesn't open the scroll. He sits back down slowly, regarding Neji alone. "What is your interest in this?"

"If Hinata-sama's bond with a non-clan member is discovered while she's still bound by clan law, Hiashi-sama will have her marked with the Caged Bird seal and sterilized," Neji says bluntly. "I won't let that happen. It will _not happen_ , Danzo-sama."

"I see. That's all?"

"That's all. I have no wish to further anger Hiashi-sama, in any matter." Neji pauses, and Kakashi is sure that Neji's subtle tap on his arm is significant in some way. "If you can avoid mentioning my involvement in this wedding, I would be most grateful."

Danzo takes less time than Kakashi expects to answer this. "Of course. You are right, young Neji, that I wish to honour our acclaimed hero. How fortunate that you put me in the way of doing him a good turn. Naruto. The clan districts are largely undisturbed by the attacks. The Shimura compound is far too large for just myself, alas, with quite a few completely empty houses. Allow me to offer you any of one of them that you and your new bride would like, as a wedding present."

Naruto grabs onto Hinata, who lets out a startled squeak as Naruto talks over it. "Wow! That'll be great!"

"And of course, for your security," continues Danzo, "your captains Kakashi and Yamato, and a few guards of my own, will monitor your honeymoon month. You two can really get to know each other. So important for the mental health, or so I'm informed."

Kakashi racks his mind trying to come up with a way out of this, but Naruto surprises him again. "Yeah, uh, sure. Okay. We'll go straight there then? Kaka-sensei, you can take me there, right?"

 _Puddles on a dry day._

Kakashi gives an eye crinkle smile. "Not a problem, Naruto."

—

Sakura reflexively shrieks and smashes the vermin that skitters in front of her, and it becomes a smeared message, something about following. She sighs. _Why does Sai's ink messenger have to be mice? Doesn't he understand how bad it is to see mice at a hospital?_

Another couple of mice crawl near their smashed comrade with some amount, perhaps, of trepidation in their inky movements.

She sighs. "Do I follow you? Can it wait?"

The tiny whiskers shake.

"Fine. Hinouchi-san!"

"Hai!"

"I'm needed. I'll be back when I can." She pulls off her lab coat and hangs it up.

"Hai!"

The mice leads her scampering over rooftops, construction sites, and finally to tents, and panic surges in her chest. _Is it Tsunade-shishou? Something's happened! Why is Sai sending for me? Oh no. Is Danzo involved?_

And the mice do indeed lead her into Tsunade's tent, but Shizune is kneeling at her master's side calmly, and so Sakura's heart settles back in its proper place. "What's going on? Why did you call me here?" Then she blinks. "Why is Shikamaru tied up?"

"Goddamn _troublesome_ women," Shikamaru growls. "Have you ever heard the story of the sirens?"

"There's an alpha female in rut somewhere among the tents," Shizune explains less poetically. "She's on the hunt."

"Oh!" says Sakura, self-consciously looking away from Shikamaru, now that she understands exactly why scents of mango and fenugreek with a metallic tinge are wafting from her former classmate. "Uh... I don't know much about the... tracking of pheromones and..."

"It won't be a problem," Sai says from behind her, and when she turns, her eyes widen as she smells not only ink and paper, but also a confusing blend of burnt matches, star anise, and cilantro.

 _Sai is an omega too?_

"But won't you be in... uh... danger, if that's the right word?"

He gives her that big fake smile. "No."

 _Okay... weird..._

"Alright, lead on."

They deal with the issue quietly and discreetly, injecting the young civilian woman with the heat suppressants and bustling her off to the hospital, then return to the tent to free Shikamaru.

He's already untied and smoking with a wounded expression outside the tent when they get back, but since she's already there, she decides to go in and see if Shizune needs anything.

"Wait, Sakura... I need to speak with you." Sai makes hand seals, and the air inside the tent thickens with chakra. It must be some kind of countermeasure against espionage, but it's like a strange sauna-like atmosphere, though not humid at all. She finds herself conscious of her own breath.

"I cannot reveal how I discovered it or how they did it," Sai begins, "but I think Naruto and Kakashi-sensei have left the village to attempt to get the Kage to call off the capture-or-destroy order on Sasuke."

"Left the village?!" _Without me?_ she wants to protest... not out of disbelief, and that's the worst of it. She swallows it with the thickened air and forces out instead, "But Kakashi-sensei told us that Naruto had to be on his best behaviour or Danzo—"

"Kakashi-sensei believes in Naruto," Sai interrupts her. "Even if it is futile... he wants to give him the chance to try. I know I'm just Sasuke's replacement, and I haven't known any of you long, or well... not that I actually understand emotions to begin with... and I don't know whatever promise he made to you back then, but even _I_ can tell that Naruto... _really loves you!"_

His slightly raised voice and pained expression, compared to his normal attitude, are like an ordinary person screaming in agony. It hits Sakura directly in the heart, where Naruto's words, his smiling face, his unconscious body—all the memories are swirling.

It bubbles up into her tear ducts, just watering at first, but the moment she notices her tears she's done for. _Don't cry, Sakura. Don't you dare cry, you crybaby... big forehead... useless... deadweight..._ The tears come faster and faster, and her back bends with them.

"Sakura..." Shizune-sempai's worried voice only makes the tears flow faster.

 _What am I even doing?_

"Naruto's been under the burden of that promise for a long time now... and I think he intends to bear it for the rest of his life. I don't know what you said to Naruto... but it feels like what was done to me... like a curse mark."

Sakura forces her breathing through this stunning idea. _Is that what I've done to Naruto? Am I... am I really no better than Orochimaru?_

"Sasuke causes Naruto to suffer... but I think you do as well."

 _Can I deny it? Can I honestly deny this?_

"Naruto's not doing it just because of some promise he made to Sakura!" protests Shizune-sempai. "He wants to save Sasuke for his own sake!"

"Of course I agree, but Sakura, and I, and everyone in this village rely too much on Naruto. Lately, when I look at Naruto, I feel... his sadness... and then I think about Sasuke, and I feel this heat, here, in my belly... " Sai gestures, his face back to its sombre neutral. "...which I've learned is anger. We've got to do something about this issue ourselves, _for_ Naruto and Konoha."

"Sai's right," says Shikamaru, with the sound of a lifting flap, though Sakura doesn't look up. He only smells like cigarettes now.

"Shikamaru?" says Shizune-sempai.

Sai says calmly, "I should have known. The light cast your shadow onto the tent and we could see it within... and you can listen through that?"

A cigarette stub drops onto the ground and Sakura watches Shikamaru's sandaled foot grind it away.

"I'm not giving away freebies today, Sai. The point is, we're not kids anymore and we've got to face facts. Sakura, Sasuke's gone and made himself an enemy of the Cloud. So the Cloud kills him, and then you and Naruto go and kill somebody from Cloud... then maybe somebody from Cloud kills you... now there's no way the rest of us would let that be..."

 _How did I get so many loyal friends when I'm...?_

"So then maybe more of us die, and if we died then our parents would want vengeance and it would blow up into total war. And then we have an alliance with the Sand—who knows who Kumo would try to drag in on the other side—and meanwhile the Akatsuki is still trying to kill Naruto and they'd be getting plenty of chances to do it. Naruto who just saved all our asses not so long ago. Sasuke is _part_ of Akatsuki now, and Akatsuki is an enemy of not only Konoha but the entire world, so the longer he stays with him the more enemies Sasuke will rack up. We need to take care of Sasuke ourselves. You understand what I'm saying, right, Sakura?"

 _Why is crying all I can do... no. No, I'll do better than this._

"So that's why I'm asking you to consent to this, Sakura... and I'll need to talk to Naruto as well..."

"Shikamaru... please don't say anything more..." Her hands slowly form into fists, then release. She wipes her eyes. "I... should be the one to talk to Naruto. That fool who's in love with me... so let me tell him. I've caused him more pain than anyone... made nothing but mistakes... I won't make another one."

She has control of herself now. _Shikamaru's right... whoever kills Sasuke will be hated by Naruto..._

 _And therefore, it should be me..._

—

"'Take it slow,' we said. 'Find out how you feel,' we said." Kakashi dodges a branch that Naruto ripped off and chucked at him.

"It was _not my fault_! All I did was say I thought we should maybe have a date and booooooooom!" Naruto swings from a branch, making his cloak flutter out behind him. "Suddenly nothing mattered!"

"But you didn't use your scent blocker?" Tenzou challenges. He makes a hand seal and the branch that Naruto was reaching for to use as a projectile retreats back into the tree, sending Naruto plummeting off balance into the snow.

He pops back off and shakes himself like a large fluffy white dog. "Gah! I forgot it, okay! And before you say anything, _yes_ she had a heat suppressant but we _just didn't use it._ And that's all I'm telling you perverts dattebayo!"

Kakashi grins behind his mask, but Tenzou sputters. "Pervert? Sempai, did you hear him?"

"Maa, until you understand this," Kakashi waves a copy of _Icha Icha Violence_ at them both, "can you be honoured with the title?"

"Yeah, well," Naruto says, puffing himself up, "I know now that it's _nothing_ like in those boring books at all."

"Poor Hinata," Kakashi can't resist saying, but he knows they have to get on track, so he cuts off another sputter with a question to Tenzou. "How soon until we need to apply more stealth?"

"We should close in on them enough to need caution in about twenty minutes, sempai. I'll give a warning in fifteen."

"No, let's start now," Kakashi replies. "Naruto, exactly how much chakra is in your clone?"

"About a third, sensei," Naruto replies.

Tenzou reels. "What?! Are you crazy?! Why would you put so much into the decoy? I barely left any of my chakra in my wood clone. Do you know what kind of enemies we're going to be up against?"

"Hey, hey, what about some credit huh? It was a good plan and I came up with it! I thought he might do something to arrest me, and he did!"

"You were right to put in that much, Naruto. Any less than that and you risk getting destabilized over such a long period of time… especially with what your clone will be doing. Maybe this will teach you to employ some caution instead of just blazing into things and trusting your massive reserves to save you. Now let's get going."

They start off again in stealth mode, although there is a brief stumble early on when Tenzou takes a sudden tumble. His bright red face when Kakashi checks on him implies that he just realized _what Naruto's clone is doing on his honeymoon._

"My cute innocent kohai," Kakashi murmurs. "Let me help you."

He gives Tenzou the copy of _Icha Icha_ as he helps him up. Tenzou huffs but simply stows it away.

In the quiet of their trek closer and closer to Team Samui, and hopefully its rendezvous with either the Raikage or the Kage Summit, Kakashi has time to puzzle some more over Neji's blackmail—for it can't have been anything else—of Danzo.


	13. Chapter 13

"Well I think Shino should be the tracker," Ino challenges Shikamaru directly.

"This is a farce," mutters Neji, while Tenten lays a placating hand on his elbow. But instead of quieting, he speaks more to the point. "The longer you argue about this, the more likely we are to be overheard—not to mention the further away they're getting."

"Shikamaru's the strategist," Sakura says uneasily. It will be much easier to knock the team Shikamaru planned unconscious. The Aburame clan insects interfere with toxins and anesthetics in strange ways, and she can't exactly tell the others, _"Oh, before we leave, let me just go check the hospital library for whether my sedative will work on Shino."_

"Hey, I'm as much of a chuunin as Shino is," Kiba says, squaring his shoulders. "I can track anything he can."

"And? When you've tracked it down? You're going to go against Sasuke? Please."

"If you don't believe I can fight I can give you a demonstration!"

"Oh my God," groans Neji. "This is about the mission, not about proving anything."

Shikamaru's mouth is thin until he finally speaks. "This isn't the time or place for this, Ino."

"Oh, _get over_ yourself Shikamaru," Ino says with disgust. "This isn't about _dick_ , for fuck's sake. It's about facts. You lead a mission to get Sasuke back before. Fact. Shino didn't go. Fact. Kiba and Lee did. Fact. The mission failed. Fact!"

"You can say you're objective but he's still your boyfriend," growls Kiba. "Fact."

"Well, let's just say that he has _staying power_ , perhaps a trait that might serve him well on the mission as well, Kiba."

A low noise of amusement comes from Shino, the equivalent for him of a raucous belly laugh. "I appreciate Ino's recommendation. Why? Not because she is my girlfriend, but because she is a perceptive kunoichi. And I agree that I should go and I have said that I should have be included in any mission to capture Sasuke. Perhaps Shikamaru has forgotten about me."

"Canine tracking is better in the snow than either the Byakugan or Aburame," snaps Shikamaru. "I have considered every possibility and this is the best team in terms of battle ability, speed, ability to get out undetected, opponents, everything."

"Excuse me," Sai says, "but I am used to, in these situations, listening to the highest ranked person's decision."

All eyes turn towards the only jounin among them. Neji blinks, but then speaks. "I was willing to go along with Shikamaru's idea, but if I'm being asked for mine, then I think it should be Shino. The rest the same—Lee's taijutsu and ability to fight without looking at the opponent's face against the Sharingan; Sai for his versatility, range, and familiarity with certain things; Sakura for healing and support."

Sakura bites her lip to check her desire to protest that _she's a fighter too, shannaro_ , because it won't help if she draws attention to her intention to be directly involved in fighting Sasuke. Neji has been studying under Tsunade too, and therefore knows by heart the rules about medic nin—in particular, that they never fight on the front line.

Not until they possess the Strength of a Hundred seal.

"What the fuck! Why not me?" Kiba says.

Akamaru whines in support.

"You're a hotheaded idiot," Neji says brutally. "Lee's an idiot too but that can't be helped, and at least he's a different kind of idiot—a good idiot. Sai is just weird and Sakura is in love with the target. At least if Shino's on the team there will be someone with sense."

Tenten stifles a giggle, and Lee says cheerfully, "You are slowly warming up to the ways of Youth, Neji! I am undaunted!"

"Fine! Fine. Since it means _so much_ to some of you. Go ahead." Shikamaru has a cigarette in his mouth and lit before he exits the tent, and in the thickened atmosphere of Sai's jutsu, it's extra foul. Chouji gives a pleading look to Ino before following after him.

They recap the plan to slip out of Konoha without raising alarm, but Sakura is only half listening. _I will have to neutralize Shino last and it might become a fight..._

—

Naruto remains facedown in the snow as the Raikage and his entourage walk away, until Kakashi steps forward. "Come on, raise your head, Naruto. He's gone."

Naruto smacks his fist into the snow. "Why are they like this? Why are they all like this?"

"We're not out of chances," Kakashi says, though he doesn't believe it himself. "You can still talk to the other Kage…"

"Rather get revenge than actually find out the truth, only caring about power, and how things _look_ … Danzo's like that too. They're… all like that, aren't they, Kakashi-sensei?"

Onoki is absolutely like that, but Kakashi focuses on the positive. "Gaara's not like that, and you know it. Come on, get up."

"That's true dattebayo…" Naruto gets to his feet. "Alright."

"There's a village in the Land of Iron, near the summit, where I have a contact," Kakashi continues. "We can stop at the inn there and use it as a base while we plan our next step."

It doesn't take long to reach it, since they no longer have to take more than usual precautions against being perceived. Kakashi speaks charmingly to the landlady and gets an ounce of usable intelligence among the ocean of prattle she lays into his ears as she shows them to their rooms. She was the widow of a samurai and the mother of samurai as well, and her youngest was serving as part of the guard at the summit today and she was so pleased and proud…

He discusses the situation quietly with Tenzou in the stairwell while letting Naruto rest upstairs.

"Seems like the architecture here is mostly pine and stone… ideal for my wood clones to move among," Tenzou says. "There's no need for you to waste your chakra on any clones, sempai."

Kakashi nods. "Alright. Keep in mind they'll have superb sensor ninja among—"

He breaks off as the sudden spike of Naruto's chakra as well as that of another alerts them to a intruder upstairs. They come up as the enemy is phasing through Naruto's rasengan, taunting him by saying, "You know that doesn't work on me, right?"

Tenzou's dual reaction is to cage Naruto and to tie up the semi-present spectre of the mysterious masked man, Tobi… or Madara.

"Ah yes, the wood release user," the masked man says, raising his voice a little to be heard over the crackle of Kakashi's raikiri. "Some little accident of Tsunade's, perhaps? Or something darker than that? And of course, I wouldn't find the nine tails jinchuuriki without his dearest teacher nearby… Sharingan Kakashi."

"We won't let you get your hands on Naruto, Madara," Kakashi says.

"Why don't you turn that thing off before it hurts one of your friends?" Madara replies mildly, and Kakashi feels his own heart clutch. "Didn't you hear what I said to your little student? It won't work on me. No attack works against Uchiha Madara. Madara can't be harmed, let alone defeated."

"I don't know how your jutsu works," says Tenzou, "but you won't be able to grab Naruto without taking physical form, and I'll seize that moment."

"My, my," tuts Madara. "I'm only here to talk! You, Naruto, who not only avoided capture by my strongest weapon but actually persuaded him to spoil his role in my plan, should be very eager to talk. I want to hear what you said to persuade Nagato to betray me. A better manipulator than me… now that sparks my interest, Naruto!"

"I don't give a damn what you want, bastard! I want to know what you've done with Sasuke!"

"With Sasuke, huh? I suppose that's a fair enough trade… do you really want to know the whole dirty story?" The masked face tilts. " _Mukashi mukashi…_ once upon a time, in a little village called Konoha, there was a little boy named Uchiha Itachi… and he was a very good little boy, and he always obeyed his clan elders, and his father and mother, and his Hokage. He was an exceptionally talented little boy who was called a genius, and he possessed great natural talent in killing human beings, and by the time he was four, he had already got to war and killed grown men. But alas, he didn't like killing people at all. But he needed to kill people because he was so very good at it, and his elders and his parents and his Hokage asked him to, for the good of the village. So he went along with it, because he was such a good little boy. And as he grew older and more powerful, he became a legend, the youngest ever ANBU captain, and someone who thought like a Hokage while still a child. A real hero! But! But but but, little ones, isn't there always a 'but' in every story?"

 _What the hell?_ thought Kakashi.

" _But,_ " continued Madara, "alas, when our hero had one weakness. He had a little brother whom he loved more than anything in this world—more even than the village! An unforgivable weakness in a shinobi. Now, the Uchiha, being a grasping clan, had become unsatisfied with their constrained status in the village, and so they were plotting a coup to put themselves in charge. Such a coup would have been quite bloody, and in all probability, have rendered the village so weak that it would then become even more embroiled in war from other hidden villages. Poor little Itachi! Asked to choose between parents and village, at first, he chose correctly, or so the village would say, becoming a triple agent, spying on the clan for the village while his clan thought he was spying on the village for the clan. Quite a feat for one so young! But he and his cousin Shisui were unable, for one reason or another, to bring the thing off without violence…"

In the swirl of shock from Madara's story, Kakashi narrows his eyes at this specific detail. _There's something off there… Shisui's mysterious suicide._

"And so Itachi was left all alone to do the only thing that could be done to prevent the all-important village from suffering the slightest harm: of course, to completely slaughter the Uchiha clan, down to the tiniest infant member," Madara says in theatrical sorrow that rings somehow more mocking and terrible than if he had laughed. "And yet! Alas! Little ones, you remember the weakness? Itachi could not kill his little brother Sasuke! Itachi left Sasuke alive, and filled his brother with the purpose to kill Itachi. Meanwhile, Itachi became a double agent yet again, passing on intelligence from the fiendish criminal organization the Akatsuki to his contact within Konoha, while he waited for his little brother to grow in power and hatred enough to kill his kinslayer. The perfect solution! Itachi would receive his blood atonement—Sasuke would be a hero— _medetashi medetashi,_ they all live happily ever after—except of course for all the dead Uchiha already mentioned." Madara did giggle at this.

"You're lying!" screams Naruto. "You're just making this up!"

"No way…" murmurs Tenzou. His junior, unlike Naruto, has seen enough to not discount the story immediately.

"Don't make tasteless jokes," Kakashi says. "It's implausible."

A tiny snort comes from beneath the mask, and Kakashi suspects that Madara is amused at Kakashi's bald attempt to mislead Naruto by speaking one truth— _it's implausible_ —to cover up another truth— _but I think it's reality._

"I didn't make any of that up," Madara says. "That was all Itachi's poor attempt at a happy ending—protecting his brother _and_ the village. But unfortunately for Itachi, he was _not_ the author of the story of the Uchiha clan. That, of course, is me, Uchiha Madara. And I have quite another end for the story in mind. When I explained the truth to Sasuke after he killed his brother, he chose his current path."

"But that doesn't make sense," Kakashi says. "If you told Sasuke what you're telling us, then Sasuke should be grateful to Itachi for his sacrifice and take up his mission against the Akatsuki and for Konoha."

"Hahaha… Sasuke's teacher and friends… you think you know him, but you don't understand him at all. He is an avenger—a seeker of truth, like me."

"You made him that way!" yells Naruto.

"I didn't have to do a thing to make him that way," Madara says. "He has had a long time to think about the facts of this sordid little story, and a deeper acquaintance with their impact than any of you. My flipping Itachi's card for him, so to speak, merely enabled him to see what he had known deep down all along. That Konoha's rotten centre had devoured his clan, and his brother, and would eat him too if he once gave it the slightest mercy. Like I said, he wants truth, and justice, and peace. And that's why he's decided that Konoha has to be destroyed, utterly and completely."

"And replaced with what?" Kakashi challenges.

"Mmm… unfortunately, I can't talk about that," says Madara. "Things have not gone at the pace I wished. I had hoped to have all nine beasts by now. And you've shown me that I won't get you easily, Naruto. What a magnificent place, Konoha! It's only fitting that the place that gave birth to the shinobi world would also fight the most to preserve it! Hashirama was as cunning as the fox himself to give the best of the tailed beasts to his own family. Such a lovely tradition of nepotism that the Fourth carried on with, isn't it?"

The Nine Tails chakra flares ominously. "Don't you dare speak of my father that way, bastard!"

"Ah, so you know that part of the story already?" Madara tilts his head the other way. "Well, I suppose that saves me some time. You're committed, eh, Naruto? To this Will of Fire?"

Naruto snarls, but no actual words emerge.

"Like Hashirama before you. There was no one I admired more... and yet I came to hate him more than any other for those pretty lies. Sasuke has gotten so far as to want the truth, and justice… and so I'll throw him at you. And before long, he'll want what I want. What Nagato wanted, before you lured him away from me. The Perfect World."

"You just want to make everybody hurt the same!" Naruto manages to speak. "There's nothing perfect about that dattebayo!"

"Ah, but I hadn't taken Nagato into my full confidence. Maybe I should have. Or maybe not. After all, it seems like he was too easily influenced…"

"Nagato really wanted peace -ttebayo! Don't compare your vengeance to his dream! Nagato had suffered—"

"Ah, ah. I know more than even Nagato himself of what his past was. I'm afraid I don't have the time to listen to your bumbling version of it. Even I, unfortunately, can't be in two places at the same time… and right now I must be elsewhere. But we'll meet again soon, Naruto…" The masked man's body swirled away. "Nice chatting with you all… bye now."

Tenzou releases his jutsu, but before Kakashi can say anything of what has just occurred, they all hear the landlady shrieking in rage about the destruction to her inn and who is going to compensate her for it.

As Tenzou demonstrates that he can fix it, he just needs a little time, Kakashi pulls Naruto aside. "Listen, we can't tell _anyone_ yet about what the masked man said. We don't know what portion of it is true, if any, and we don't know what his motivation is for telling us. Until we figure that out, we mustn't let it get out. Especially while the leader is Danzo. This could be a trap to get a disposal order placed on us as well."

Naruto looks unhappy. "Anyone?"

"Yes, Naruto. Even Sakura or Hinata."

"But don't you trust them, Kaka-sensei?"

"It's not about trust, Naruto, and it won't be forever. We just have to focus on the short term, now. _No one."_

—

"Sakura-san! I was just wondering—"

"You need to be quiet, Lee," Shino calls back to them. "Why? Because we are on a covert mission."

Lee's round cheeks beneath his round eyes in his big round head turn into rosy circles. He makes the loudest whisper Sakura's ever heard. "I am sorry! But I wished to ask Sakura-san if I could be of any assistance to her!"

"Thanks, Lee-san," Sakura says quietly as they crest a hill. There's a town in the distance. "But you can't help me with this."

"Because you know I would do anything—"

"I know, Lee-san." This earnest, unearned devotion is only making her task harder… maybe this is why Sasuke-kun didn't want her to come along…

"Speed up," calls Shino. "Something's going on up there involving Naruto."

It doesn't take a sensor ninja to ascertain which building in the little town is housing ninja: the enormous crater in its side, the still little human figure on the top of the roof, and the screaming of an enraged landlady are drawing even civilian attention.

"Naruto, come down from there!" Yamato is calling when they catch up, and the snow-topped figure stirs and turns.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto peers down at them. "Sai? Wow, even Bushy Brows, and, uh... Shino!"

"He's improving," Shino murmurs.

"I won't have any more of you in my inn!" the beleagured landlady shouts at the newcomers as she stalks back inside. "Fix it and get out!"

"What are you doing here?" says Kakashi-sensei. "Something happened?"

"I have something to say to Naruto," Sakura says, steeling herself, and needing to steel herself even more as she meets Naruto's wide blue eyes. "Naruto..."

"Yeah, Sakura-chan?"

She takes a deep breath. "Naruto, I love you!"

From behind her, she hears a loud sucking in of breath that must be Lee, and over Naruto's shoulder she can see that curiously enough Captain Yamato looks more shocked than Naruto.

"What did you say, Sakura-chan?" Naruto's bewildered voice draws her attention back, and the expression is hard to bear, so she tries to change it into a lowered eye expression. Her cheeks are burning readily enough, and shame should pass for bashfulness. "Did I hear you say..."

There's a moment of silence, and Naruto says, "Could you repeat that dattebayo?"

 _Oh, Naruto!_

"I said... I love you! You're the one I like... not Sasuke." She has to consciously hold off on the honorific. "I should never have liked him to begin with... you know, when a girl confesses the boy should listen well!"

There's another silence, but Naruto just says, "Why? Why would you say... Don't joke about this, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura jerks her head up. It's far from the expression of a girl worried about having her feelings rejected.

"What... is going on?" Kakashi says carefully.

Sakura glances over Naruto's shoulder and too quickly turns her attention back to Naruto, making a little waving gesture. "Nothing happened, really! I just... woke up and realized that I was being a fool! Devoting myself to a missing nin, a criminal... I'm not a little girl anymore, who's going to choose fantasy over reality. So, Naruto... you don't need to fulfil that promise to me anymore... you can stop chasing after Sasuke!"

 _All about Sasuke. Nothing about Naruto... and every bit of your expression and posture is false... Sakura, you don't know how to lie at all... but why are you lying?_

Yamato knows she's lying too, but he shows his hand a bit too strongly. "What are you-"

Kakashi throws up an arm to warn him back. He wants to hear Naruto's response.

"Something _has_ happened. Why would you suddenly start liking me?"

"Nothing's happened!" She spreads her arms wide, palms open in a classic gesture of harmlessness, then steps forward to hug Naruto, just as she did when Kakashi carried him back after defeating Pain. This gesture, at least, comes more naturally to her. Naruto stands there stiffly. "Sasuke never wanted to be close to me and he just gets farther and farther away, but you've been there for me all along, Naruto… right here, just like this… but I couldn't see it until now… the real you… the hero who saved us all… everyone loves you… why wouldn't I be one of them…"

 _She's babbling. This is… her anger at herself for not returning Naruto's feelings?_

"You went from this… dead last prankster clown to this marvellous and amazing person…"

 _Colour in her tone there. That opinion is genuine._

"But Sasuke just keeps becoming worse and worse… to the point that he's like a stranger to me… no, less than a stranger… but I can be close to you, Naruto, and you are there for me, so now, that's why I love—"

Naruto twists out of her embrace and holds her literally at arm's length, by the shoulders. "Knock it off, Sakura-chan! This isn't funny!"

Again, Sakura's expression is all wrong, and she tries to fix it and it comes out even worse, tension around her eyes and mouth making her smile almost ghoulish. "Why would this make you mad? I've just told you, I'm done liking Sasuke, and now I like you. They say the heart of a woman is as capricious as the weather—"

"I _hate_ people who lie to themselves!"

There's a stunned silence from Sakura.

 _So… Naruto's take is that she's trying to deceive herself into being over Sasuke?_

 _…possible…_

 _…not probable…_

"You think this is me lying to myself?!"

She sounds frustrated. _Ah. You're angry… because he's got the wrong idea about why you're doing this… so it's a waste… and you hate wasted efforts, I think…_

"If you're rejecting me, just say it straight out! Don't play me off with an excuse!"

"Well, I mean… I am, I guess… well, I would have to, now, but… don't change the subject, Sakura-chan! If you're not joking and you're not lying to yourself, then why would you say that kind of thing -ttebayo? Why would you come all the way out here?!"

Sakura bites her lip. _Aha. Naruto's getting closer to the actual reason she's lying, then… if I'm correct then she's going to try denying it and then change the subject…_ "What do you mean, 'all the way out here'? With as far as we've chased Sasuke! This distance is nothing! Now you're after Sasuke again, getting yourself into so much danger again—the Akatsuki are still after you—think about _yourself!_ Go back home to Konoha! That's why I chased you—I want you to stop chasing Sasuke and come home! Don't you think I'd go much farther than this to save—" She stops again and recalls something to herself. "Wait wait wait, what do you mean, you would _have_ to reject me?! You told me just a few days ago you liked me!"

"Uh, well, uh…" Naruto shuffles a bit. "Well… Hi-hinata and me…"

Sakura's eyes widen, and she scans Naruto, then abruptly steps forward and yanks on his collar and her eyes widen even farther at what she sees there. "You _bonded?!_ You absolute idiot Naruto! You forgot your scent blocker didn't you? _Didn't you_? Is she alright? Oh my God, she's _pregnant_ isn't she? You got Hinata-chan pregnant I can't believe this you asshole!" She jabs him in the chest with her index finger. "You are so irresponsible! I remind you about your scent blocker every mission! I even packed your damn pack for you last time! How could you do that to Hinata-chan?! Don't tell me that she didn't have her heat suppressor because I won't believe you, moron!"

"Sakura-chan, it was an accident," whines Naruto, raising his palms in surrender.

"An accident? You think that just justifies everything? This is a lifetime responsibility, Naruto! Oh my God. You're going to be a _father._ "

"Hey… yeah…."

"Oh, don't look so happy about it! I'm still angry at you! Poor Hinata-chan!"

There is a long silence, and Kakashi clears his throat. "Well, it's good that you're taking this rejection so well, Sakura…"

Sakura startles and blushes at the reference to how obvious her lack of disappointment at not being Naruto's life partner is.

"So… did you and your team have anything more to say to us?"

"My team? Well, it's not safe to try to travel alone, sensei, is it?"

"No," Kakashi agrees. "It was nice of them to risk so much sneaking out of Konoha just for you to confess your love."

Sakura's red face seems more tinged with anger now. "Don't mock me! A girl's heart isn't garbage when she offers it! My friends understand that—and even if Naruto has someone else, it still doesn't change that I'm releasing him from his promise! So, Naruto—there's no reason in the world not to come home! You shouldn't be thinking about the promise you made to me, but about Hinata-chan!"

 _So all of this is because you want Naruto to come home that badly? What's frightened you, Sakura? Has there been more news about Sasuke? Or is it Danzo that you fear?_ Kakashi sidesteps her rebuke, probably merited, about her friends valuing her heart. It isn't that Kakashi thinks her heart, sincerely offered, would be garbage per se, but it's not something for a shinobi to think about. The same problem that Sakura had when she was a genin.

"It was never just about the promise I made to you, Sakura-chan… and even more now, I understand why Sasuke feels the way he does, the love he felt for his clan and his family and the pain he felt when he lost them… and how he became desperate to avenge them…"

"Excuse me, Naruto," Shino speaks up. "This explanation does not suffice for Sasuke's most recent actions. Why? Because he should not have joined the criminal organization of his brother after killing his brother, because this is taking up the criminal self-serving behaviour of his brother…"

"No, I don't think that's why—"

"Naruto," Kakashi warns with a snap.

"Anyway, it's not about any promises at this point. I want to rescue Sasuke myself and I'm not going back on that, no way. Hinata… will understand. At least… I hope she will…"

"Fine!" Sakura turns on her heel. "Sai! Shino! Lee-san! Let's go!"

Shino remains turned toward them the longest, and Kakashi wonders how much was perceived behind those black shades.

—

"Stay perfectly still, Sakura. If you make a move, I'll drain you unconscious."

 _Dammit… how…?_ Five minutes ago, she had left Shino's crumpled body alongside that of Sai and Lee. Then suddenly as she was about to come out of the woods into a clearing, a swarm of insects had burst as if from an explosion, jolting her body and sending her crashing supine into the snow. Above her, Shino was standing.

"I suspected you intended to do something of this kind," Shino says calmly, "I will not go into what preparations I took to avoid your trap, because it is a clan secret. You are completely encased in my insects now, but I have avoided your face, so you can explain yourself to me. Now."

"Shino, I have to go alone to kill Sasuke." Sakura has never exercised more self control in her life than denying her urge to scream, writhe, and smack the thousands of insects she can feel crawling all over her. "Sasuke will believe that I'm defecting for his sake, because I offered to do it before. Then, when I have the chance and his guard is down, I'll kill him."

"What if he doesn't believe you're defecting?"

"He will," she says through gritted teeth.

"But if he doesn't? Ninja rule 17." _A ninja always has a plan for the worst case scenario._

"Well then I'll just have to fight him!"

"You have no hope of defeating him alone, especially since he'll probably be with his team."

"But he won't believe I'm defecting if I'm not alone."

"Therefore you need back-up that can hide their presence from even sensor ninjas," Shino says. "Such as someone who can use Beetle Jamming Jutsu."

"You _can't_ be involved, Shino. Naruto will _hate_ whoever kills Sasuke."

"Well, we're at an impasse," Shino replies. "You can accept my help and allow me to be your back-up, or I can knock you unconscious and we will miss the chance altogether. Because I have to value the mission above your desire to shield me from Naruto's anger, as much as I appreciate your… softness."

Oh, how she bristles at that, but there's no time to argue about it. "Fine."

"You'll still have some beetles on you," he says as he extends an arm and most of the swarm returns to him. "Just in case."

She doesn't bother to ask in case of what, since the answer can't be flattering to either her ability or her trustworthiness.

It's skin crawling knowing she has bugs on her that she can't sense, but she focuses on the task ahead.

"There's a battle up ahead… ah, it's ended, I think. I'll disguise myself in a moment, and you go on ahead. I'll be able to join up with you in about twenty seconds should you need it, so make sure you give yourself that much time."

"Understood." Sakura presses forward and out, to a destroyed bridge with a familiar yet unfamiliar figure standing there, the Uchiha fan still bold against his back, a thousand birds shrieking in his hand as he stands over a crumpled body. "Sasuke-kun!"

"…Sakura." He turns toward her, his eyes black as his hair and cold as his chakra, colder and fouler by far than it was even when his curse mark was going wild in the Forest of Death. "Why are you here?"

"Sasuke-kun, I want to join you! I've defected from Konoha to be with you and support you!" She stops just at the edge of the destroyed bridge, not daring to get closer just yet.

This close, she can see a dried blood stain running like tear streaks down from his eyes. "Do you know what I desire?"

"It doesn't matter! I just want you to be happy, Sasuke-kun… that's all I've ever wanted." Sakura swallows hard. Damn, saying the truth is harder than an outright lie.

"I desire to destroy Konoha," he says bluntly. "Will you really betray Konoha for me?"

 _Destroy Konoha?! What… why… why would he possibly want to destroy Konoha… he must have gone insane, actually insane…_ "Yes… if that's what you want then I'll support you."

"I'll need some proof. This one is almost dead," Sasuke says, nudging the motionless body with his toe. "Finish her off and I'll accept you're sincere."

The kunai trembles in her hand. "Who is she?"

"Someone who was part of the team I put together, Taka," he says indifferently. "She's no longer useful to me, so she has to die. Oh, you're a medic nin, aren't you, Sakura? You can replace her then."

 _To be so callous, so ungrateful and evil to his teammate… he's no longer the Sasuke I knew at all…_ She walks forward mechanically, then stops next to the woman and looks down. Her bright red hair and the deep red blood dribbling from her mouth are strikingly contrasted against her pallid skin and the rough stone of the damaged bridge. Her glasses are askew and her eyelids occasionally flutter. _God, she's conscious and listening to this… I don't know who she is but she can't deserve to be killed like an animal like this… but I need to do it to get my cover… I'm a ninja and even in school we were told we may have to do evil things for the good of the village…_

"What's the matter, Sakura?" Sasuke's mildly jeering voice is very close, and she realizes she's closed her eyes. "Can't bring yourself to do it?"

 _I can't… I can't just kill her…_ Panic surges within her. It's all going wrong. She should kill this woman… this defenceless woman… but she can't, she just can't, and every second that ticks by the more she realizes that she is truly an incompetent ninja. _I won't get another shot, I need to stab Sasuke now—_

"Sasuke… don't…" A strange woman's voice croaks from the floor as a thousand birds begin to shriek behind her.


	14. Chapter 14

The last time Kakashi grabbed Sasuke's wrist and twisted him away from Sakura, he wasn't actually intending to kill anyone, but this time his killing intent was so virulent and powerful that he sensed it before he even saw him. "How low you've sunk, Sasuke!" he says bitterly.

They engage in a bit of taijutsu and in about fifteen seconds Shino's beetles have burst among them and Sasuke retreats back and up, using a lightning jutsu to electrocute the bugs.

"Hang back Shino!" Kakashi commands, and Sasuke smirks, panting hard.

"Well, well, Sakura," says Sasuke, "… not much of a trap, is it?"

Kakashi speaks to Sakura. "You wanted to be the one to kill Sasuke, didn't you, Sakura? But you shouldn't be the one to bear that burden… I blame my own personal shortcomings for this. I'm the one who failed to teach the three of you properly and caused this rift… and I said something reckless just to ease your mind… but maybe I wanted to convince myself as well…"

 _Don't worry! It'll all go back the way it was soon!_

 _But it will never be the same._

Sasuke tied to a tree… no, before that. All that wasted time, all those silly missions around the village with his nose in _Icha Icha…!_ "I'm sorry I was such a bad teacher…"

"But you…" Sakura begins, but there's only one chance left to say this, as fruitless as it's sure to be.

"Sasuke… I don't like to repeat myself. But I'll say it one more time… stop letting vengeance possess you!"

Sasuke howls his laughter. "Itachi… my mother… my father… and my clan! Bring them all here, then I'll stop!"

 _So Sasuke, at least, believes some version of what Madara told us. How warped he must be, first by Orochimaru, and now by Madara… and it's only because of my weaknesses that either of them got a shot at him…_ "I don't want to kill you…"

"As if you could kill me at any time!" Sasuke sneers. "Quit acting like you're my teacher, Kakashi! I want to kill you so bad I can _taste_ it."

"Sakura, take the girl and stabilize her. There's still time to save her, and she will have a lot of information about our… enemies."

"What about you, sensei?"

 _Sensei._ How that title rings hollow in his ears. _This will be the only thing worthy of that title I ever do for you, Sakura._ Kakashi gives her an eye smile. "I will take up this burden from you. That's my job, after all! Now go on, get going. Shino, your main job is to monitor the surroundings in case any other enemies show up. Do not interfere otherwise."

"Hai."

Kakashi uncovered Obito's eye and prepared to do battle with this mad, broken young man whose seething hatred the Leaf had allowed to fester without action until that hatred actively threatened the village. "No matter how low he sunk, Sandaime-sama always felt affection for Orochimaru…now I understand what he went through…"

With the Sharingan he could see every muscle twitch in Sasuke's stance. "Well then, I'll send you to join him!"

—

As Sakura heals Sasuke-kun's former comrade, it's evident that her lethal wound was made by lightning release. The conclusion is obvious that it was Sasuke-kun himself who put her at the brink of death… but why?

 _Because he's insane. He's lost his mind!_

Tears blur her vision but she doesn't bother to wipe them away. She was nearly too late to save her patient and she needs to focus.

"Y-you…" the patient tries to say.

"Don't speak," Sakura manages. "I-I'm not done yet…"

 _All these bite scars all over her chest… even her breasts have been bitten… what a life she must have lived…_

"The Sharingan is the essence of being Uchiha. An inferior shinobi like you has no right to it!" she hears Sasuke-kun shout as his battle begins with Kakashi-sensei.

Sakura focuses as best she can on reattaching blood vessels, reforming bones, redirecting nerves.

"You're all laughing… Itachi died and you're all laughing like fools, completely ignorant of his sacrifice! And to me your laughter is nothing but contempt and mockery! I want to turn that laughter to wails of agony!"

"Sasuke is… far colder than before," the patient rasps. "You don't know Sasuke anymore."

Her chest cavity has been knitted back together well enough now. Sakura stands up and turns, and gasps as she sees the unearthly glow towering around Sasuke-kun in the shape of a ghostly warrior. But then the skeletal figure sputters and disappears as Sasuke-kun clutches at his face.

 _This is our chance! But Kakashi-sensei's too weak from using his Sharingan to take advantage of it! I've got to do something!_

"What are you doing?" the woman says, but Sakura is already leaping over the wall.

 _I can't convince Naruto of this path… so I have to make the decision and stick to it…_

But before she can reach Sasuke-kun, another battle erupts—between Shino and some kind of monstrous white humanoid.

"Damn! How'd you notice me?" the humanoid says, skittering back towards Sasuke-kun, who seems to have somewhat regained his composure. "Hey! Hey Sasuke! Tobi's gonna be here soon, and I think he'll be mad! You were just supposed to kill that girl and go back to the base!"

"I don't take orders from him," Sasuke-kun says.

"But hey! Sasuke! Leaving her alive is a bad idea! She knows too much about our plans. Hey Sasuke!"

"Shut up. I don't care who knows my plans. That's not why she has to die… why they all have to die!"

Sasuke closes the spaces between them with a speed she can hardly believe, and this time Tsunade-shishou's training takes over where her conscious mind was frozen. Sakura evades his initial blow, and the next, and the next. She throws a kunai only as a distraction, and it works, as he moves to catch it and thus nearly gets hit by her kick that blasts open the ground and crumbles another portion of the bridge.

A snarl escapes Sasuke. Clearly he didn't expect Sakura to give him the slightest amount of trouble. But before he can step up the intensity of his assault, an orange flash gets between them.

"Sasuke! What the hell, bastard! Sakura-chan's part of Team 7 dattebayo!"

"So what, Naruto? I don't care about that." Sasuke smiles, twirling the kunai around a finger.

"Listen, Naruto," Kakashi-sensei says, "Sasuke is not the teammate you knew from back then."

Naruto seems to ignore this. "Hey bastard, I heard the truth about Itachi from Tobi…"

 _The truth about Itachi?_ Sakura thinks. "Itachi's sacrifice," isn't that what Sasuke-kun said?

"Well, I don't know how true it is but… the point is I get what you're doing!"

"Naruto," snarls Sasuke-kun. "I already told you, you can _never_ understand. You have no family, no parents, no brother… you and all the other _outsiders_ should just shut up!"

"Hey!" shouts Sakura, surprising even herself. "Don't you know how much Naruto has suffered for your sake?! He's defended you and called you a friend no matter what we heard… even now!"

Sasuke-kun chuckles. "Even now? You don't know what's happened back then, let alone now! I'll tell you! Just now, I finally completed the first part of my revenge for Itachi's betrayal. I killed a Konoha elder! That Danzo! I've never felt better! It 's like the polluted Uchiha name is finally being cleansed. I'm freeing the Uchiha from your filthy shinobi system. That's what the Leaf has always wanted, isn't it? From the very start you all wanted to get rid of the Uchiha… so I'll fulfill your desires and sever the Uchiha from the Leaf for good… by utterly destroying it and killing you all!" He spreads his arms wide with a manic grin. "I will purify the Uchiha by severing every bond tying it to your corrupt existence! Only then will the Uchiha truly be restored!"

 _There's something more going on here than insanity?_ "Sasuke-kun…"

"This is my duty," says Kakashi-sensei, throwing up an arm as Naruto begins producing clones for battle. "Naruto, Sakura, Shino… none of you should have to see this."

"Kakashi-sensei!" _Wait, what's going on?_

"You can't kill Sasuke with poison. He'll have poison resistance from Orochimaru," Kakashi replies.

 _That's not the point!_ "But—"

"And there is also how you feel."

Red hot shame fills her chest like a stab from a fire poker. _My feelings are keeping me from finishing the mission._

Naruto demands, "Are you saying you're going to kill Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei?!" as Sasuke-kun readies a chidori and walks forward calmly.

But before Kakashi-sensei can say anything, the plant-like Akatsuki emerges again, opening up like a grotesque parody of a flower to reveal the masked Tobi.

"I told you to take care of the girl and rest," Tobi says, with no hint of the perplexing whimsy he previously displayed. He turns towards the Konoha group. "…again with the Nine Tails…" Back to Sasuke-kun. "You're too weak to face him right now, Sasuke. I'll arrange for you to fight him when the time is right."

"Shall I capture him?" the plant thing says eagerly, splitting apart into more of himself. Another one says, "Hey, we need the Nine Tails, right?"

"No," Tobi says, more sharply. "You're not a battle type at all, Zetsu. Take Sasuke back to base, then go rejoin with your black half and check on Kisame."

"I want to talk to Sasuke," Naruto says.

"I want to hear him," Sasuke-kun talks over Tobi's protest. "He's just going to say some nonsense, but…"

"Heh." Naruto laughs slightly, wiggling the toes in his sandal and staring at the little splashes. "Yeah, you've always thought you understood me, probably 'cuz there wasn't much to understand -ttebayo… I'm trying to understand you, and I'm closer than I was before. Maybe I'm not the kind of person who understands people's words or makes people understand me with words, y'know? You gotta lot of hate in you… and if you try to take it out on Konoha, then I'll have to stop you. But it's fine! You just save all that hate up… and lay it out on me. Because I can take it!"

Sasuke-kun's nostrils flare as he takes a sharp intake of breath. "Why are you so obsessed with changing me? Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"Because you're my friend dattebayo!"

"We were on a team once and that's over!" Sasuke-kun says unsteadily. "When we meet again, I'll kill you!"

"Heh. Maybe! Maybe we'll both die together dattebayo… you know, if that happens, you wouldn't be the last Uchiha and I wouldn't be the jinchuuriki of the Nine Tails… when we meet in the next world…"

"You're the only one who's going to die!" Sasuke-kun's voice has taken on a hysterical tinge, and the masked man lays a hand on his shoulder.

"Wonderful. When you fight, eventually, that will all be very grand and cinematic I'm sure. In the meantime, we have one unsolved problem here." Tobi points at the girl, still slumped against a wall. "I don't want to leave her with you. I could just try to take her by force, but that would involve some energy expenditure I'd rather avoid. Therefore, let us compromise with the time honoured practice of prisoner exchange. One Konoha ninja for her. What do you say, Kakashi?"

—

 _Prisoner exchange? What kind of trick is this? With his teleportation jutsu, surely he wouldn't need much to grab the girl, since Tenzou isn't here…_

"Who is it?" Kakashi says. There are plenty of MIA Konoha shinobi suspected to have become entangled with the Akatsuki.

"Don't know, don't care. Well? It's a fair deal."

"Depends on the condition of the prisoner. Give us the prisoner first."

Tobi raises a gloved finger, and one of the Zetsu moves to Sasuke and envelopes him. His former student's face twists in a sneer as the Zetsu swallows him into the earth. A few moments later, a Zetsu grows out of the soil near Sakura and regurgitates a bound prisoner. "Take a look, medic. No funny business."

Sakura glances at Kakashi, and then approaches the prisoner at his nod. "He's alive, seems pretty unharmed, sensei. The bindings are controlling his chakra, but I guess he has enough chakra left to feed the insects."

"An Aburame? Shino, do you recognize him?" Kakashi says.

Tobi makes lofty gesture of permission to approach, stepping back somewhat himself as Shino approaches and Sakura deftly removes the mask.

Shino's face is as impassive as always. "I don't recognize him at all. It's not a henge?"

"It would be impossible to maintain a henge in his condition," Sakura answers.

A small cloud of insects leaves Shino's hand and travels to the man. "That's not possible… because that line died out…"

"What is it?" Kakashi says sharply.

"He's not using kikaichu, but rinkaichu… a venomous insect, nano-sized… very unusual to be able to host them, even in our family… the last host was my cousin, but he died… he even wore a mask like that, but…" Shino's voice takes on an emotional edge, very unusual in him. "My father said he _died_ …"

"How did he die?" Kakashi pursues, keeping his eyes on Tobi's cloaked form.

"I don't know… I was only five, I barely remember him… he was about three years older than me."

"Is this some kind of trick?" The man can't be Edo Tensei, but who knows what other kind of warped experiments the Akatsuki might be up to.

Tobi sighs. "So suspicious. He was a bodyguard of your Danzo. Fine, take off the chakra bonds and I'll remove the genjutsu."

Sakura works to remove the bonds and within a minute or so the prisoner is stirring awake, giving Kakashi his first view of an Aburame's eyes directly. There's nothing unusual about them. He is dark-haired and brown-eyed. _Like my own mask, huh. Hides nothing and that's the point._

"What…" the man says, and puts a hand up to his mouth. "How did you break Danzo-sama's seal? I swear I'll die rather than…" He looks around again, and seems to twig on that something unusual is happening. "What's going on?"

"Prisoner exchange," Tobi says. "Kindly identify yourself to your comrades so that I can take my own prisoner and leave."

The Aburame looks from Shino to Sakura to Naruto to Kakashi, and when Kakashi nods, says, "Aburame Torune."

"I do not understand how that could be your name," Shino says, "because it is the name of someone my father told me was dead."

"Your father did not understand Root, Shino-kun," Torune says. "Perhaps he saw my joining it as a kind of death."

"Have I kept my end of the bargain or not?" Tobi interrupts.

Kakashi glances at the girl. She looks exhausted, more than anything. Giving her to Tobi may mean her death, but it's not something he can be concerned with now. "Yes."

"Finally." Tobi moves to his prize directly, rather than teleporting. "Let's do this again real soon."

The Akatsuki and his prisoner melt away with the Zetsu.

 _He didn't teleport even once…_

—

They rendezvous with Sai and Lee, and Sakura sheepishly gives them the antidote.

"How did you get away from Yamato, Naruto?" Kakashi-sensei says.

"Made a clone and went out through a crack that I covered with a blanket while he was distracted dattebayo."

"Aa." Kakashi-sensei chuckles. "Dismiss the clone so Yamato will track us down." Turning to Sai, he continues, "When Yamato gets here and you've recovered, I want you all to head back to Konoha as fast as possible and send us a message about what the situation is like in the village. Torune's tongue seal disappeared, just like yours did; therefore the rest of Root must be in disarray. You and Yamato are the most natural people to stabilize the situation. On my end, I've got to find out what happened at the Five Kage Summit quickly, and then head to the daimyo to make sure he doesn't throw his support behind the wrong faction."

"Hai," says Sai groggily.

"Alright, let's go."

Sakura follows. They don't get far before Kakashi-sensei stops, and Naruto stops too.

"What do you need, Sakura?"

Sakura blinks, confused, searching her mind for what plan might be that might have her need something. "What do you mean?"

"You're following us. Do you have something to say?"

She stares at him, uncomprehending, for a few more seconds before it dawns on her that yes, she is actually being left behind by them.

Again.

And after everything's that happened—after how she has become weak and become strong, effaced herself and improved herself, all for this team—the same underlying spirit that sent her to demand and to withstand training from the Hokage herself rears up.

Inner Sakura is back, and she is pissed.

"Yes. Yes, I _do_ have something to say, Kakashi-sensei. Actually, I have something to ask. Am I part of Team 7?"

Kakashi stares at her perplexed, while Naruto responds immediately. "Of course you're part of Team 7, Sakura-chan!"

"Well, I'm asking, because for all we talk about teamwork, I seem to get left off the _team_ for the _work_ bit more often than not," she snaps back. "When there's actually _work_ to be done, I never seem to be part of that _team_."

Naruto tilts his head and swivels it back and forth between Sakura and Kakashi. "Eh? Uh, but she can come along with us, can't she, Kaka-sensei?"

"No," Sakura interrupts before their former teacher can respond. "I've got more on the line here than just whether I get to tag along like a pet. I want to know if I'm actually _part of Team 7._ Starting with what the _hell_ exactly was going on back there?"

Kakashi-sensei's single visible eye is emotionless. "Weren't you only there in the first place because you abandoned your comrades?"

"Because Shikamaru and Sai told me about the situation as they saw it, including how you two were already _gone,_ without so much as a message, just like always. And they wanted my help in getting Naruto to support killing Sasuke-kun, because I'm closest to Naruto… but because I'm closest to Naruto I knew he would never support it."

"Which is why you decided to kill him yourself." Still maddeningly neutral.

A vein pulses but she controls herself. "Well, why shouldn't I make decisions on my own initiative when no one else ever includes me in decision making?! You're trying to distract me. What happened with Sasuke-kun's brother and his clan?"

Kakashi still just stares at her. Naruto is looking back and forth between the two of them with a big frown.

"You said you were sorry for being a bad sensei. That failing to teach us properly caused the rift between us? Did you mean you admit you failed to teach _me?_ Or did you just mean you didn't do enough for Sasuke-kun?"

—

It's been a long time since someone has been really angry at Kakashi and expressed it to his face.

Maybe the last time was Obito.

Certainly that was the last time he felt the truth of the accusation this strongly.

Just like with Obito, at first he tried to defend himself under shinobi philosophy.

 _I made the best decision at the time with the data I had. I can't consider feelings. I have to prioritize the most valuable to the village. Whereas you are ruled by feelings…_

 _Am I speaking to Sakura… or to Obito?_

He had been primarily referring to how he wasted time, at how unprepared they were for Zabuza and Haku, and how unprepared they were for the Chuunin Exams; but her accusation made him look at the memories again, and he was struck immediately by the truth of it.

That he had always put her last.

Because she was fine. She would be a good genin for the village… maybe even one day a chuunin, if she didn't get married first…

She wasn't the last Uchiha, she wasn't the jinchuuriki of the Nine Tails, and each one of them was a full time job… more than a full time job, to someone as debilitated by his faults as Kakashi.

 _Of course I didn't spend time on teaching you. What was I supposed to do..?_

He takes an unsteady breath.

 _…when I failed to teach Sakura… I taught Sasuke and Naruto that part of the team can be neglected for the sake of what's best for the village…_

 _What a hypocrite I am…_

But there's no time now _(there's never, never time)_ to ask her forgiveness _(that he doesn't deserve)._

"The masked man—he calls himself Madara, and I think he is telling the truth on that particular point—said that Itachi killed the Uchiha clan on the orders of the elders, and that the massacre was condoned by the Sandaime. The Uchiha were planning a coup, and Itachi wanted to protect the village. However, he loved Sasuke too much to kill him, and hoped that by killing Itachi, Sasuke would gain closure and become a hero to Konoha. However, when Madara told Sasuke the truth, Sasuke decided to destroy Konoha to avenge Itachi." Kakashi takes a breath. "We don't know how much of it is true. We've got to get to the Five Kage summit now."

He begins running, and the other two keep up.

"Madara?" calls Sakura. "Madara the _founder_ Madara?"

Of course book-clever Sakura knows the history. "Yes."

"Is he Edo Tensei, do you think?"

"I don't think so." It's not a bad guess, but Edo Tensei slaves are so tied to their casters…

The summit is a scene of chaos. Several parts of the building are collapsed, including what looks like a former main hall, and he sees evidence of some of the fearsome abilities of the Kage—dried lava, dust and sand, a whiff of acid.

Sensor types have alerted those there to their imminent arrival, so no one is surprised to see them.

"Naruto!" Gaara calls first. "Are you alright?

"Yeah, I'm fine, why?" Naruto says, as Onoki huffs.

"The Sand and the Leaf are as close as he says!"

"Well, they _are_ allies, grandfather," a young woman with short hair soothes. "We knew that coming in."

"Who says what?" Kakashi says, trying to figure out the cause of the hostile glances they're being greeted with by all except the Sand delegation.

"That damned masked Akatsuki!" The Raikage says. "He's been talking our ear off for hours. Saying he's here to _negotiate._ What a load of nonsense. He said the Kazekage could be considered capable of negotiating on behalf of the Leaf."

"I don't think that part was nonsense," rasps the Tsuchikage, his bulbous nose an angry red.

 _Madara was here? But we were just speaking to him far away from here… was one a clone? Is that why it couldn't teleport?_

Naruto displays his greenness at exactly the wrong time. "Madara was here dattebayo?"

That sets off a lot of noise from the Cloud and Rock contingents, and just as concerning, a lot of whispering into the Mizukage's ear from her eye-patched advisor.

"Ao, shut up," the Mizukage finally snaps, her voice somehow cutting through the noise from the Raikage and Tsuchikage. She stands up. "So that is why your Uchiha joined the Akatsuki. It is an Uchiha enterprise through and through!"

"It has nothing to do with the Leaf!" Gaara defends them. "Don't forget that it's the Rock who have had the closest dealings with them!"

"So _you_ say," the Raikage spits, "but that _Madara_ seemed to be implying that they did you some kind of favour… how is it that _you_ and the Leaf's other allied jinchuuriki are the only ones still alive!"

"Your brother _is_ still alive!" Naruto says, frustrated. "Or he was, while you were here raving about revenge!"

"That's what the Akatsuki wants us to think! I'm through dealing with you! There's no one the Cloud can trust except the Cloud! C! Darui! We're going!"

"Sorry about the mess," Darui says as they exit.

Mifune, the samurai leader, speaks up. "This was never samurai business. It was my foolish mistake to offer ourselves as neutral ground, and too many of my men have paid the price with their lives. I will not continue nor repeat it. I want all ninjas out of the Land of Iron within the hour!"

"Fine by me!" huffs Onoki. "I'll continue to do what's best for Rock and only Rock!"

"The Land of Water won't be made fools of by the Uchiha anymore," the Mizukage says frostily as she leads her own entourage away.

Kakashi runs a hand through his hair in frustration. Within moments of their arrival, they've completely destroyed any possibility of new alliances for the Leaf to combat Akatsuki.

"I'm sorry, Naruto," Gaara says. "I tried."

"Kazekage-sama," Kakashi says, "do you have more entourage elsewhere?"

"Only my siblings."

"Please come with us as we reconnect with the rest of our group," says Kakashi. "Sasuke killed Danzo, which reopens the leadership vacancy for Konoha. There's a good chance that his faction will attempt to seize power again. Can we count on the Sand's support against them?'

"Of course." Gaara is looking at Naruto. "You had better get to your Daimyo and obtain his support for your candidate."

They begin to move. "We will have to send part of our group back to Konoha to get control of the situation there," Kakashi calls. "Sakura, Naruto, and I will go by ourselves to the capital."

"A three man cell is too small to guard a jinchuuriki in this dangerous time," Gaara calls. "May I offer my brother? It may not be evident, but he is quite useful diplomatically, as well as in battle."

Kakashi is not in a position to reject any offers of diplomatic support. "That is most kind of you. We accept."

When they arrive, a spirited debate is occurring between Tenzou, Sai, Torune, and Shino, with Rock Lee sitting on the snowy ground looking bewildered.

They break it off as Kakashi and the others coming within hearing range. Tenzou says, "Sempai, what's going on?"

"Naruto, Sakura, Kankurou-san, and I are going to the capital to ascertain the next Hokage," Kakashi says. "The rest of you need to go back to Konoha and… protect it."

"Hai," they all say, although it's certain that each of them has a very different idea of what it means to protect Konoha.

"There are no real changes internationally," Kakashi continues. "We are thankful that the Sand remains firm allies of the Leaf."

Gaara and Kankurou are off to the side, talking quietly. Gaara steps forward. "We had all better depart as soon as possible. Naruto. I look forward to working with you again soon."

"Uh, yeah!" Naruto doesn't take much to give one of his brilliant smiles at any time. "It was nice seeing you too dattebayo!"

"I want to apologize… Ugly," says Sai. "I know… even less about emotions than I thought. I shouldn't have interfered."

"No, you were just trying to help us," says Sakura. "You're… a good friend."

Sai's smile is shy and slow.

"Let's go," says Kakashi. "The cease-fire ended the moment the Summit went down in flames, and we're vulnerable until we cross the border to the Land of Fire… and even after that. Be on your guard."

"Hai!"

And they're off in their three different directions.

—

The samurai leader apparently wasn't joking around when he gave them an hour to be out. They run into a group of samurai, who hail Kakashi and inform him that they will follow them to the border. The samurai grind to a halt as the four of them leap back in the Land of Fire.

They pause for a break in a small town about an hour, on horseback, from the capital. It's a large enough place to be able to get new, clean clothes suitable for a ninja. Sakura's cloak took the worst of her brief skirmishes, and she exchanges it for a hooded coat that fits closely in the torso and flares out from the hips.

She sits at a table with the others with her hood up, eating stir-fried komatsuna and eggplant. Kankurou has taken off his make-up, and Naruto's whisker marks are hidden by concealer. Kakashi-sensei has a henge, making him dark-haired and pock-marked. He seems to be taking advantage of it to eat as slow as possible, unlike his usual gulp-and-go approach.

 _One little "kai" and I could see his true face…_

He grins at her, and his yellowed teeth and swollen tongue are so gross she has to avert her eyes not to lose her appetite.

 _Maybe best not to push it._

Kankurou gives them a précis of the summit, but it's a bit difficult for her to follow, since despite the use of a muffling jutsu to makes eavesdropping difficult, he takes the further precaution of also using codewords that seem to rely heavily on references that she doesn't get.

"Sandy" is obviously Gaara, and since the Mizukage is the only female Kage she can guess that "Big Two" refers to her through context. Since "Darkness" flees the summit at the approach of "Survivor", that must be Danzo and Sasuke-kun…

Naruto nods and nods and nods throughout Kankurou's recital, indicating that Naruto doesn't understand a single word.

Danzo apparently had an eye stolen from an Uchiha that allowed him to place Mifune into a genjutsu, and according to Kankurou, some other person at the summit—Sakura wasn't sure who—used a power to identify this. Then a Zetsu showed up, and then Sasuke-kun, and then everything really went to hell as some people pursued Danzo while others attempted to fight Sasuke-kun.

"So at this point that Masked One showed up and says he wants to negotiate. It was like every word out of his mouth made everyone in the room hate each other more, and there wasn't a lot of love in the room to begin with," Kankurou says, and takes a sip of tea. "Pretty masterful stuff. Now that I've cooled down, I'm embarrassed to admit he played me as well, some of the stuff he spurred Dusty into saying about my father and grandfather, which stirred up the Liquid people as well. He was pretty flattering to Dusty, almost like he wants to make a formal alliance there… as for Belt, he was just throwing out insults to everyone and ignoring all the accusations we had to make for his own conduct, not least the way that he's been stealing certain weapons… Big Two and Belt got into it pretty bad at one point about theft vs massacre and who was responsible and which was worse… When the sensors told us you were on the way, Masked One just disappeared—" Kankurou drew a swirl in the air with his finger. "Guess he didn't want to be around for you. You were there within a minute after that, and then you dropped that bomb about who the Masked One was, but to be honest, there's nothing you could have said at that point that wouldn't have made an explosion, we were all that keyed up."

"How long was Masked One there?" Kakashi-sensei says before chewing another saury with his mouth open.

 _Ahhhhhhhhh gross!_

"Fuckin' hours," Kankurou groans. "You don't know the half of all the bad blood between the nations… or hell, maybe you do. Masked One certainly knew every single point of contention between us and you, and he tried to catch Sandy out with anything he could, but Sandy wasn't having any of it."

"He was trying to sabotage our alliance?"

"Seems like it. He even started trying to get between my brother and me and my sister… as if he could do that." Kankurou scowls. "The three of us hated the Third more than anyone else in the room and for better reason. So what if your ancestors and our ancestors killed each other? Our ancestors were just as happy to see their own kids tortured for the sake of you know fucking _what_."

 _The village._

"But Dusty, man, he's exactly like Old Man Third. Masked One played him like a zither."

"What's a zither dattebayo?" Naruto makes his only contribution to the conversation thus far.

"It's like a _koto,_ " says Kakashi-sensei.

"…what's a koto?"

Kankurou snickers as Sakura starts to explode, "Dammit, Naruto, is that the only thing you—"

She stops because Naruto has grabbed at his head and started moaning, and not in a painful way either, as he flops down onto the ground writhing like a fish on deck. It only lasts a few seconds, but it's certainly weird and loud enough to have every face in the place turned towards them.

"So much for subtlety," says Kakashi-sensei mournfully, rubbing at a huge mole on his henged nose.

"Unnnghhh… sorry about that…" chokes out Naruto, still on the ground. "Everything… all at once…"

Sakura turns as pink as her concealed hair at the implication.

Naruto struggles to his feet and shakes himself a bit like a dog. "But never mind that dattebayo! Point is, my clone's gone! You-Know-Who tried to implement some kind of scheme to take over Konoha now that, um, You-Also-Know-Who is dead. Me and Hi… Hi…"

"Don't worry about code names," Kakashi-sensei says impatiently. "Just tell us."

"Yeah, me and Hinata had to run, with Shizune and Baa-chan's body and Fuu, coupla others, but they were most worried about me, so I was able to stall 'em a good while. They wanted to capture me, not kill me, but I knew that I needed to know… I mean…" Naruto falters and scratches at his head as he contemplates the difficulties of multiple selves before shoving it off as a bad job. "Anyway! I deliberately got myself killed so that I would know, dattebayo!"

"Where are they headed?"

"Well, that's a good thing, they're going to the capital too," says Naruto. "Or maybe it's a bad thing -ttebayo… because that means Root'll be chasing after 'em…"

"Then let's get there first," says Kakashi-sensei. "Kankurou, leave some money for the bill and let's go." He body flickers away.

Unwise to Kakashi-sensei's cheapskate ways, Kankurou wastes precious seconds being flummoxed. Sakura and Naruto, used to it, immediately body flicker away as well.

"You're turning us into horrible people, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura scolds him as they race towards the daimyo's palace.

"To teach someone to be a good shinobi is to teach them to be a horrible person," Kakashi-sensei calls back.

Sakura opens her mouth to tease back, then closes it, because she realizes that Kakashi is perfectly serious.


	15. Chapter 15

Mikawa, the capital of the Land of Fire, is nestled at the junction of three major rivers: one going southeast, towards the Land of Rivers and the Land of Water; one that flowed from the mountains of the Land of Lightning; and one that stretched almost due west, ending in the Land of Rain where the mountains at the border to the Land of Wind cut such a sharp contrast between arid and torrid regions. It was thus an obvious trade centre, and control over it had given the Fire Daimyo's family such power that their clan was able to expand over all of what was now known as the Land of Fire.

Sakura's eyes are wide as they stroll through the streets. The street urchins remind her of the ones she saw in the Land of Waves, but in that village, even the richest were just getting by. Here, the contrast between rich and poor, starvation and excess, is far more blatant.

The children chase after likely marks rushing out of stores with their purchases clutched to their chest, while avoiding getting too close to the more obviously wealthy and their shadowing bodyguards.

Kankurou's chakra strings stealthily pull a few coins and notes from the wealthiest here and there, brushing them as if accidentally fallen out of a pocket or blown by the wind to this child and that. Sakura gives him a warm, approving smile, and he reddens a bit beneath his facial makeup and looks away. He's so different than the brash, angry boy she met nearly four years ago who declared he hated brats.

Once they cross the border into the Hinomiya district where the palace actually is, there is an abrupt end to the street children. Luxurious shops selling high-end kimono, jewelry, art and other similar things are benefitting from the high level of security offered in the constantly patrolled area. Wealthy houses, too.

She suddenly realizes that they are being flanked, but since Kakashi doesn't react with alarm, she doesn't either.

One falls into step next to their leader. She has a kerchief tied around her arm like the one Asuma-sensei wore at his waist. "Good evening, Hound."

"I'm here as myself," Kakashi replies. "I need to speak with the Daimyo urgently."

She sighs. "Of course. And the others?"

"Companions. It is very dangerous to travel at the moment."

"Just so. Although, is it not forbidden to travel at the moment, while the summit is in progress?"

"The summit is ended."

"So quickly?" Her brows furrow.

"Not war. Not yet…" Kakashi stops, and the rest of them stop as well. "Ririka, what is it that has your loyalty?"

The question startles her, and she takes a step back. They stare at each other for a long moment, and her expression couldn't have been more transfixed if he were mesmerizing her with the Sharingan. Ririka takes a deep breath. "My loyalty is to the Will of Fire."

Kakashi eye smiles at her. "Good. The Daimyo needs such loyalty."

She signals. "You had better see him right away, I think. He won't be pleased. He intended to go to a film this evening."

"I'll try to keep it brief."

—

"What a waste of time -ttebayo!" Naruto explodes as they leave the Daimyo's audience. "That moron is the daimyo? He didn't seem to have the first clue about what's going on! All he cared about was lineage!" He bends forward and waggles his butt, while mimicking the Daimyo's pretentious voice. "'Ooh, yes, I know, you're the Fourth Hokage's son! I quite liked him, he was Jiraiya's student! Jiraiya was the Third's student! And I liked Jiraiya _so_ much, such an entertaining man! My, you look so like the Fourth! What a handsome man he was. And didn't he marry an Uzumaki? The First Hokage married an Uzumaki, didn't he?' He didn't know anything about _me_! He didn't even know that I beat Pain!"

Kakashi lets out a breath, which fogs up in his mask and makes it moist and clammy in the cold air. He hadn't anticipated that the Daimyo would be so taken with Naruto's appearance and lineage. As Naruto said, the Daimyo was appallingly ignorant of what was occurring in his Hidden Village. Kakashi was barely able to get in a word as the man prattled on about the Fourth Hokage's handsomeness and his relationship by marriage or discipleship to previous Hokages.

Just when it seemed Kakashi might be able to get a word in, one of the Daimyo's advisors suddenly entered the room and took over the conversation. It must have been the same man that Shikaku described as steering the Daimyo towards Danzo in the previous council meeting.

This man knew all too much of what had recently occurred, and he strongly urged the Daimyo not to be hasty in replacing Danzo. Danzo was killed so quickly by the very rogue Konoha nin the Fifth Hokage had been so lenient with, he said; didn't that prove that Danzo was right? His successor should be of Danzo's stock—Danzo, who was a student of the Second Hokage like the Third, but unlike the Third had not "gone soft" in his old age.

 _"Shouldn't we see if one of Danzo's students is ready to take over his legacy?"_

And the Daimyo tutted and trotted off to his movie night, not making a decision.

"How close is Hinata, Naruto?"

"Um..." Naruto frowns and squints. "She's.. closer than last time?"

"An hour away? Five?"

"How should I know dattebayo!"

"You calculate how far away they are and how fast... never mind." This particular issue obviously falls square into the " _actually an idiot"_ part of Naruto's idiot/genius dichotomy. "We won't be able to see the Daimyo again tonight anyway, so let's get some rest while we wait for them."

The Twelve Guardian Ninja compound in the palace has extra quarters for visiting Konoha nin, and they get a room each, but Kakashi gathers them into his own room. "When the others reach the city limits, we will need to sneak them in."

"That large of a group?" Sakura says. "What's the plan?"

"The plan is that we need to sneak them in and therefore we will," he says tiredly. "This place only has the appearance of dense systematic defence. It's all a false front. In reality, the majority of the security is ordinary guards who we can easily fool, and the Twelve Guardians who patrol randomly. We'll have to react to circumstances as they happen." _And possibly need to get them to break their oath to the Daimyo. What a headache._

"Sounds like my kind of plan," says Naruto.

"I can spread a sedating mist within the compound from here, make it easier for you," suggests Kankurou. "Nothing with lasting damage." He pauses for a beat. "Unless someone has a heart condition, maybe."

Sakura extends a hand, and Kankurou, with some reluctance, places a jar into it. Her hand glows and extracts a globule, which she analyzes with furrowed brow. "Very clever... clever indeed." She hands the jar back, transferring the smaller portion into a phial. "It'll work as he says."

"Then we wait."

—

Sakura uses the waiting time to conjure some antidotes to Kankurou's compound, a sophisticated combination of anesthestics and neurotoxins with a gradual onset. She hasn't seen it in action yet, but the combination of neurotoxins seem to indicate that it messes with perception in such a way that the victim slowly enters into a pleasant, daydreamlike state while parts of the brain responsible for things like judgment and suspicion are disconnected; therefore the victim will not realize they are being poisoned, and if the total duration is not too long, probably will just think they spaced out. He told her he intends to spread it through the heating system of the palace as soon as Naruto thinks the others are close, therefore having an antidote for themselves ready is only prudent, since they'll probably inhale a little on their way out. Kankurou suggested a filter jutsu would be all they needed, but Sakura never met a poison she didn't want to make an antidote for anyway.

It feels completely backwards to knowingly, willingly allow a foreign ninja to poison their own comrades, but it's probable that one or more of them is a Root agent. Danzo wouldn't have neglected such a crucial position.

A short rap on the wall indicates that it's time to go. She leaves an ordinary clone in her bed and turns out the light.

Naruto, Kakashi and Sakura meet up with the others in a scummy part of the outskirts, full of bars, clubs, and less savoury locales. None of the passerby even pays mind to the strange sight of Shizune hoisting an unconscious elderly woman on her back—not to mention the pig wearing pearls at her feet.

Hinata-chan and Fuu she expected, and the others with them turn out to be Tsunade's bodyguards, Genma and Raidou; Shikamaru's father; Nara Shikaku; and Mitarashi Anko, the sadistic woman from the Chuunin Exams.

"Commander," Kakashi greets Nara-sama. "Is it as bad as it seems?"

"Not quite, but it is very troublesome," grumbles Nara-sama. "Inoichi is keeping me updated. The attempt on Tsunade-sama has been their only outright violence so far. They are lying low and waiting."

"I spoke to the Daimyo but accomplished nothing. That man has his ear still. Perhaps you will have better success tomorrow."

Shikaku grunts. The pause in the conversation sends Sakura's gaze wandering, and then it freezes on the extraordinary sight of Naruto with Hinata-chan (in a big fluffy fur coat) hoisted into his arms as if she is an enormous stuffed animal he's carting away from a summer festival. And he has his own jacket partially unzipped to allow it to be slightly pushed down his left shoulder where Hinata is resting her neck with a blissed out—

 _Oh my God. They're rubbing bond marks in public?!_

It's nowhere close to the most obscene thing they've passed in this part of Mikawa, but it's so intimate. She jerks her gaze away, back to her unconscious master. Sakura steps forward and wordlessly Shizune acknowledges her intention, turning so that Sakura can examine Tsunade.

"Hey, this is a touching reunion and all, ya know, but you should think about how jealous you might make others, huh?" Fuu scolds the lovebirds as Sakura tries to concentrate on Tsunade's chakra network. "You two have had a honeymoon, what about me eh?"

Naruto puts down Hinata-chan but defensively says, "Well, that was a clone, it wasn't the same!"

That distracts the medically curious side of Sakura, but fortunately Shizune is just like her in that regard. "Really? What is the difference? Does the bond mark react the same?"

"N-no," stammers Hinata-chan. "It's, uh… diluted, maybe?"

Shizune probably would have pursued it further, but Shikaku interjects. "Fuu-san. What _is_ the status of your mate?"

"He's hunting," Fuu says with a pout. "Around the border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Hot Water, now."

"If he's after a jinchuuriki then we have to stop him dattebayo!"

Shikaku has his eyes closed, hands in a focusing gesture.

"How is Tsunade-sama, Sakura?" asks Kakashi.

"Hardly any better than before," she answers reluctantly. "It must be difficult to get her sufficient nutrition in her unconscious state," Sakura adds, seeing Shizune-sempai's depressed expression. "Especially since Shizune-sempai couldn't leave her side to gather herbs… if they could even be found this time of year… and the destruction of the village destroyed all our backstock.."

Shizune perks up at that. "Oh! Sakura! _You_ could go to the Shikkotsu Woods to get things! I remember Tsunade-sama saying everything grows there year round!"

Shikaku's eyes pop open. "That's it. That's where to keep her safe. Sakura, you must take Godaime-sama to the Shikkotsu Woods. Root won't be able to touch her there. And Naruto is right about the Akatsuki. Fuu-san can lead a team to intercept him—"

"I'm coming along!" Naruto interrupts. "And don't tell me I can't, because—"

"No, you should go," Shikaku says, making Naruto shut his mouth in surprise. "If Root _does_ go after you, their first priority will be to stop Akatsuki, rather than capture you. You can use your enemy as a shield against your enemy. Besides, we've all had ample evidence that you have a better chance of persuading an enemy to join us than anyone. You'll want Hinata with you… and for a fourth, Anko."

"Good," says Anko. "I'm pissed and I want to kill something."

"Shizune and Genma can henge into Naruto and Sakura and go back with you, Kakashi-san. Meanwhile, it would only be natural as a council member for me to travel to Hinomiya to advise the daimyo. And Raidou is my partner for the journey."

Kakashi nods. "Good plan. Let's make it happen fast."

"Me, go to Shikkotsu Woods?" Even as she asks the question, Sakura sees the rationality of the plan… despite how much she hates the idea of being sidelined away from the action again. "…no, you're right. I'll… I'll send Katsuyu to you regularly for updates, then?"

She bites her thumb.

—

Kakashi leads the disguised Shizune and Genma back into the compound, and they run into Akio, of the Twelve Guardians, who is leaning on a wall outside their rooms, hands in his pockets.

Kakashi eye crinkles at him. "Yo."

Akio blinks. "…ah? You were out?"

"Maa, just trying to find the kitchens for something to eat," Kakashi extemporizes.

"Oh… yeah, no chance of that, they're closed… I think I have some rice crackers…?" Akio pulls open a satchel, rummages, pulls out an empty wrapper, and squints. "…what happened to my rice crackers?"

"No need for that, Akio-san," Kakashi says, subtly indicating to Shizune and Genma which room they should take. "We'll just wait for breakfast."

"Breakfast… breakfast sounds good, yeah…"

"Goodnight then." Kakashi pulls the door shut to his own room. His clone sits up in bed and gives him a wave as he dismisses himself.

When he wakes up in the morning, he's dismayed to learn that Kankurou already left for breakfast. He hadn't even had the chance to tell the Sand ninja about their plan.

"You two go out into Mikawa and pretend you're going to Suna. Make some purchases, let yourself be seen leaving the city. Then drop the henge when you can and reenter as yourselves," he tells Shizune and Genma. "I'm going to see the daimyo with Shikaku as early as possible. We'll meet up no later than dinner."

He eats a bowl of okayu with Ririka, who chats about the wonderful dream she had last night. Shikaku and Raidou join them, and then a servant announces that the daimyo will be calling the council together to choose a Hokage.

"To _choose?"_ repeats Kakashi.

"That's what I was told, sir."

Kakashi meets Shikaku's eye with alarm behind his passive face. Who else has arrived from Konoha?

"Just through here."

The daimyo sits hunched in a huddled mass of blankets, his breathing raspy and uneven and a large waterfall style handkerchief pressed to his lower face. After Kakashi and Shikaku uneasily make obeisance and take their seats among a lot of very annoyed aristocrats, the daimyo coughs.

"Well, as you can hear—" Indeed, his voice is quiet and strange. "—I am taken ill, so let's get this situated quickly so I can take a vacation for my health."

"My lord," begins the sharp-eyed Root-sympathizer, "I am sure that you are still of my mind, that we must press forward, not return to the failed ways of the Fifth and Third. I received a hawk this morning and I am told that traitorous forces have actually absconded with the Fifth's body!" He glares at Kakashi. "I don't suppose you know anything about that?"

"As you say," Kakashi says with a pleasant smile. _You do suppose, and I do know._

"You see, my lord!" the man appeals. "Their side is completely out of control! We require order, and discipline, and power to maintain it! And one of Danzo's closest men is humbly willing to step up to this duty. Aburame Torirou, the son of Aburame Torifu, who was Danzo's teammate under the Second Hokage." He says all this triumphantly, and then looks expectantly at the daimyo, waiting for him to ramble about the Aburame clan.

Instead, the daimyo wheezes, coughs, and wipes his face. "No, no," he says feebly. "Youth, youth is what we need here. Eh? Look at how the Land of Water has improved with their young lady. And the Land of Wind, too! Youth, and strength, like that fine young man—Uzumaki Naruto!"

Dead silence. Then uproar from the counsellors, during which Kakashi takes the liberty of opening Obito's eye. He was glad he hadn't worn his forehead protector, combing his hair down in a fairly futile effort to appear more respectable and authoritative.

Chakra strings and no heartbeat.

The daimyo is now a _puppet._

He closes the eye again and concentrates on his breathing as he thinks.

 _So Kankurou was very busy last night…_

 _It was a rush job, so that's why he's all covered up. Otherwise he would be an obvious corpse or worse…_

 _The mimicking of the civilian chakra signature is perfect. Without the Sharingan I wouldn't have noticed. Unbelievable. Kankurou isn't even in the room, yet he's controlling him remotely somehow._

 _Is this how Naruto really achieves his dream?_

"I see," Kakashi says aloud, leaning hard on the word to indicate exactly how much. "Naruto is on a mission right now and can't return to Konoha jus now, but, my lord, I think you will allow Nara-sama… or myself… to act in his stead, for now? Remembering, of course, that final confirmation of this choice lies with the jounin."

The handkerchief flutters in front of the pallid face, and the voice emerges as if blown from a bellows. "Yes, yes… but of course they will choose him… very handsome young man, like his father, he'll do well… you're all dismissed."

—

"Sakura-san, training to become a Sage takes an enormous amount of chakra. With your ordinary chakra reserves, it may take decades… and there are risks…"

"I know. Naruto told me. Turning into a frog. He said there were statues." Sakura smacks the tree trunk in mild frustration, a shower of pine needles rattling loose and falling like snowflakes. "I suppose you're going to show me them."

"None of my students has ever gotten that far," says the tiny Katsuyu. "Tsunade-sama only tried for about… mm… fifteen minutes? The moment she realized it was altering her appearance, she lost all interest."

 _Oh, shishou._ It is too easily believable. "Nobody else made it either? Are you telling me there's _never_ been a slug sage?"

"I don't tend to get as many students as the frogs or snakes. The snakes always have the most postulants, although they only teach the ones they cannot destroy. The frogs have fewer who seek them, but far more who succeed, as they always seek to preserve. But humans… you value creation so little, you speak of it with such contempt, you treat it like a nuisance and harm yourselves to avoid it…"

"What do you mean, Katsuyu-sama?"

"You harm your stomach and head as a side effect of stopping your ovaries from working, do you not, Sakura-san?"

Sakura's eyes widen in shock, then she blushes, then she's angry. "It's not… that's not right, Katsuyu-sama! We're not animals, who have to just _breed_ —there's more to me than just some… some…"

"I have offended you, Sakura-san? You dislike the idea of bearing young so strongly? I understand that your young would not be _you_ , but I find recreating myself so enjoyable! It is difficult for me to understand the human fear of it."

Sakura is struggling with herself. She can't offend Katsuyu, not when she's seeking her teaching, but it's everything that she's always hated and feared would be her fate—bound to an alpha, pumping out babies, losing her identity _—_

"Why is it so repulsive to you, Sakura-san?"

"Because everything would be over!" she shouts before she can stop herself. "I don't want to submit to anyone that way! That isn't me! I won't be weak like that!"

The eyestalks wiggle in a way that Sakura has come to associate with Katsuyu being puzzled. "Humans find the concept of conceiving and giving birth to be a weakness?"

"It's—well—not exactly, but—I mean, _I'm_ not saying it's weak to give birth, and maybe I would for myself, someday, but—well! Anyone can give birth, Katsuyu-sama! I want to do more before I do that!"

"'Anyone can give birth,''" Katsuyu repeats, still puzzled. "But it takes you… nine months? Great personal risk, intense pain? I don't understand what you mean, that anyone can give birth. Surely not? Why, only half your species at most can do so—and not even all of them. But _anyone_ can kill, Sakura-san—that takes only an instant. Yet you value the killing of a human over the creation of one?"

Sakura's mouth opens and closes again.

"Oh, I think I understand! Tsunade-sama attempted to make me understand many times—it's something to do with your _gender_ thing, isn't it? I don't fully understand why you have this sexual dimorphism to begin with—Tsunade-sama told me that I am _hermaphroditic_ , but if you want my opinion, Sakura-san, it's simply the more logical way to be. But even more so, I cannot understand why, if your species _insists_ on sexual reproduction, that one way would be elevated and the other denigrated… especially the much more useful way?"

"More useful?"

"Ah, well, if you had a hundred men and one female, in twenty years how many young would they have? If you had a hundred female and one man, in twenty years how many young would they have? So the female are more useful, are they not?"

"Humans don't think that way, Katsuyu-sama." Sakura kicks a rock. "If anything, they just think that means one man deserves a hundred women."

"Strange creatures. You want to spread yourselves everywhere, but you hate those who bear the cost of it. And yet there is such good in so many of you…"

"I want to become a sage, Katsuyu-sama. I've _got_ to do it. I'll figure it out somehow, but please, teach me!"

The eyestalks gently flutter. "I will teach you, Sakura-san, but since I have never really succeeded before in teaching a human, you will also be teaching me. So." An enormous Katsuyu glides like a whale through the forest and takes up the thread of the conversation. "We begin with stillness."

Sakura obediently drops into the lotus pose and waits for further instruction.

"That is not the way to go on, Sakura-san," a medium-size Katsuyu reproves. "That is the _frog_ way."

"Kneel. Lay your chest on your knees. Forehead resting on the earth," says the tiny Katsuyu gently. "Arms down along your sides. There. Close your eyes."

The deep scent of the soil fills her lungs with every breath. "But I feel…"

"Yes?"

"I feel… so vulnerable." Her back is exposed, her face is practically smushed into the ground. If she were attacked, it would take precious seconds to get out of this pose into a position where she could defend herself—if she even realized she was being attacked before it was too late.

"You should feel vulnerable. You are inviting in the creative energy of the earth."

 _Well, that's hardly reassuring._

"Now, Sakura-san. Focus on the yin and yang meridians of your hands and feet. Observe the flow of your own chakra from the extremities to the governing vessel and the conceiving vessel."

Sakura does so. So far, so easy.

"Now, in perfect stillness…open the chakra points of your hands and feet and allow the sage energy to fill the vessels."

"Uh…" begins Sakura.

"Don't think about how to do it, just do it. In absolute stillness."

"But how can I do it if I don't know how to do it?"

Sakura makes no progress that day except a dirty face.

—

In the Hokage office, Kakashi opens a scroll delivered by a toad. Finally, word from Naruto.

 _Hatake Kakashi-san:_

 _Although it is the New Year, the cold continues._

 _Hey hey hey! Kaka-sensei!_

 _Hinata is writing this down for me because my handwriting's kinda, well, it sucks, but don't worry, I'm having her write down exactly like I tell her to, dattebayo!_

 _Sorry about how it took so long to find us! But we're on a kind of island that isn't an island so it's over water and I guess your dogs can't track over water so well huh?_

 _Hey! So! Are you sure this isn't a joke? Gaara's trying to make me Hokage like this?! Wow, at first I was just… [transcriber's note: Naruto-kun seemed unable to put his feelings into words.] Anyway! Wow!_

 _I gotta say no though! How could I face Konohamaru if I became Hokage like this? There's gotta be no shortcuts! I've gotta become Hokage the right way in order to be the right Hokage dattebayo! Does that make sense, sensei? I hope you get it. Anyway, I know baa-chan is gonna wake up any day now, and man. What if I was Hokage and she woke up and she stole the hat back?! That would be too embarrassing! [Transcriber's note: Naruto-kun asked me to add extra exclamation points.]_

 _So! You and Shikamaru's dad can just take care of things while I'm studying here with Killer Bee! You'd be proud of me because I'm training every day! Me, Bee, and Fuu are making a Jinchuuriki Squad! Yeah! I'd love to see Madara try to take us on as a team dattebayo!_

 _Fuu's mate, that creepy shark dude, he's even more of a freak than he seemed when he tried to get me before. Write down that he's not a freak but write down why! [Transcriber's note: Fuu-san wrestled Naruto-kun into a headlock until he took it back.]_

 _But it's important that Kakashi-sensei knows! He's here sometimes. I don't know what's going on in his brain. I think he doesn't want to kill Fuu, but me and Bee he does, but then of course, maybe he does want to kill Fuu, or maybe he's gonna leave the Akatsuki altogether? It's bad, it's real bad! As long as Fuu's with us, he knows where we are—but we know where he is too. So that's what we have to watch out for!_

 _Anyway! So! That's right! I'm gonna keep working hard dattebayo! So take care of Konoha for me Kaka-sensei!_

 _Please take care of yourself since it's cold._

 _Uzumaki Naruto_

Kakashi smiles at the contrast between Hinata's delicate handwriting and the correctness of the opening and closing set expressions to the shining voice of Naruto coming through the middle section.

A little cheering up is nice. He can't remember a time when the mood within the village has been like this.

Even in the worst of the war periods, or the aftermath of the Nine Tailed Fox attack or Konoha Crush, there was at least a sense of unity and trust in the Will of Fire.

But now it's become evident that this unity had deep cracks in its foundation… rot in the Roots… the puns were too apt. Danzo's organization wasn't off when it called itself the Root, the Foundation. That's what they believed themselves to be. The deeds done in the shadows to let the village live in the light.

That was how Kakashi had always thought of his time in ANBU. The assassinations and the sabotages and the thefts and the intrigues. While he isn't exactly proud of the things he did, he already knew himself to be scum. He could be scum for Konoha.

But those who abandon comrades are worse than scum. And to deliberately maim and murder comrades like Root did? It was hard to come up with a metaphor to express how far below scum that was. That long ago mission where he enabled Yamato to extricate himself from Root seemed horrifying enough at the time. But he had bent the knee to the Third and trusted the man with all his soul to deal with it.

Learning how the tendrils of Root continued to spread under the nonfeasance of the Third has shaken him.

And suddenly Kakashi is literally shaken.

He pushes up his headband with one hand and backflips out the open window as the room explodes. Kakashi grips kunai to block an expected rain of shuriken, but a wooden wall blasts up and separates him from that attacker.

"Sempai!" calls Yamato. "Good, you got the warning in time."

"That tremor was from you?" Kakashi says as he engages in hand-to-hand combat with a pair of Root.

"It was me taking care of one wave of assassins," Yamato shouts back as his hand turns into a wooden mass that blasts the head of an attacker from its shoulders. "But I made the explosion showy on purpose."

Against the Sharingan, Root has apparently sent its very best taijutsu users, but to Kakashi, who has been unwillingly training with Guy for years, it's almost insulting. This is a suicide mission for these hapless Leaf nin. And for what?

Worse than worse than scum.

Without warning to Yamato, he makes the hand seals Ox - Snake - Ram and unleashes the Hiding in Mist technique on the area. As the fighting comes to an abrupt end, he slips away and towards the Nara grounds.

If Kakashi is the target, then Shikaku is probably also one. Moreover, if Kakashi is the target, the brainwashed Leaf nin who are obeying Danzo's successor will stop attacking, and therefore hopefully not need to themselves be stopped with lethal force.

He may not want to be Hokage, but if he's going to act as one, then dammit, these are his ninja. He won't just let their lives be treated as worthless.

A shadow abruptly pulls him from a full run to a standstill instantly, which is quite disorienting.

"Oh, it's you," says Shikamaru. "Dad! He's fine."

"Don't release him yet," says an unfamiliar ANBU in an owl mask. "It could be a trick."

"Chouji, my body. Shintenshin no Jutsu!"

Whump. Kakashi is already out of control of his body. Now he's out of control of his mind as well.

Shikamaru's shadows retract, and Kakashi's body crosses his arms. "Yep, it's him alright," his mouth says. "I've never seen a brain so full of porn."

"Get out of there!" says the owl-faced ANBU, who must actually be Inoichi.

"Don't you tell me what to do," Kakashi's mouth says. "What possible right do you think you have to tell me what to do?"

"I am a jounin. I am the leader of your clan. And I am your father!"

"Well how lucky I am that you're my father," Ino spits through Kakashi's voice. "If you were my uncle or my cousin, maybe I'd be one of the people we killed today!"

"Ino," says Chouji in some distress as he cradles her unconscious body, "don't waste your chakra. There could be more enemies."

Kakashi's mouth is scowling as he regains control of it.

"This is not the time," says the owl-masked ANBU as he settles back into a huddle with other unconscious or incapacitated masked ninja, while another Akamichi ties them up with chakra-suppressing ropes.

"Well, you've had seventeen years to tell me about my cousin Fu, or my cousin Arisa, or my cousin Junichiro—"

"I don't know what you want from me!" This time the voice comes from Inoichi's own mouth, as he shrugs off the support of Shikaku's younger brother. "I made the best choice I could at the time. That Aburame boy understands it, why can't you?"

"I understand perfectly. It's because I understand that I'm so sickened by your complete lack of remorse for what you've done. You're the one who doesn't understand," Ino snaps back. "You've never even understood that the men I'm with don't make my choices for me. And not that it has anything to do with you, but Shino and I—"

She's interrupted by bursts of blackness streaking across the morning sky, like a reverse fireworks display in shape but, unlike fireworks, they linger. Not even Kakashi's Sharingan knows what to make of it, until he hears Sai's voice emanating from above.

"Members of Root," Sai intones. "You may think you know who I am, but you do not. No one knows who I am who can tell me. That was taken away from me. I was trained just like the rest of you. 'No name. No feelings. No past. No future. There is only the mission.' I was young, but I remember one of my first missions some ten years ago. To stop a certain clan's coup d'etat."

 _Sai knows?!_

"A what?" Inoichi would not normally lose control of his reaction like that, so his dispute with his daughter has clearly rattled him.

"I remember Danzo-sama's words so well," Sai continues, "and since my tongue is free, I can repeat them now. He said, 'It is not enough to stop this coup; no one must find out it was even contemplated. There is no surer sign of a village's weakness than civil war.' Danzo-sama has been dead only a few weeks, yet those who claim to be his successors are already ordering you into actions that Danzo-sama would never have permitted."

If this is the Uchiha coup he's talking about, then that means Madara was telling the truth about Root's involvement.

"My tongue is free," Sai repeats, "and my hands are free, and I remember so much. You, the leaders, are already willing to risk so much. I tell you that you risk even more. I have set up traps around the village that need to be regularly reset to prevent them from going off. If they do go off, they will carry many secrets of this village to the other hidden villages. Secrets that, in conjunction with the weakness demonstrated by this civil war, will have Konoha invaded by all sides. I expect every single member of Root to cease this assassination attempt, renounce Root, and swear allegiance to the Hokage by sundown. If even one abstains, I will let the traps go off."

The ink streaks burst again, showering Konoha like wet soot.

"What a clever young man," says Shikaku. "Did he run this plan by you, Kakashi?"

Kakashi swallows. "No."

Is it a bluff? If he's telling the truth, then if Root had decided to eliminate its defectors first and succeeded, the village would have been…

"Clever!" Inoichi is incensed. "You call that clever? What if he died? What if they call his bluff and it isn't a bluff? He's willing to destroy the village!"

"He's willing to destroy the village to save the villagers," Shikaku says. "That's the difference between their generation and ours."

Inoichi makes a noise of frustration and leaves in a swirl of leaves. Ino promptly bursts into tears.

"Hey," coaxes Chouji, embracing her. "Hey, hey…"

Shikamaru takes out a cigarette, but puts it back in the box and steps awkwardly to his teammates, laying a hand on Ino's shoulder. She sniffs and regains control of herself, patting his hand in a silent thank you.

"Then where do we go from here, Shikaku?" Kakashi says. He could almost laugh at himself. Half a Hokage plus half a Hokage doesn't equal a whole-not by a long way.

Shikaku seems to be thinking along the same lines. "We go back to the Hokage Tower and hopefully intake a lot of Root agents," he says, "and convene the council to discuss the situation. I think some questions will need to be asked of councillors Homura and Kitade." The corners of his mouth twitch. "I'm sorry to look so merry… but it's been a while since I had such a splendid board of pieces to study."

"But who's the opponent?" says Kakashi.

"That's what makes it even better than shogi," says Shikaku, actually smiling now.

Ino laughs and wipes at her eyes. "Uncle Shikaku, you're terrible."

More seriously, Shikaku says, "I know, Ino. But you know, every father wishes that his child would inherit a better world, and would make the world better. But part of that means confronting that your child will reject part of you. Your father's done a good job helping you become the first, but he's having a hard time accepting the second. Please be patient with him."

Ino nods, but says nothing.

"The one awkward part of the plan," Kakashi says after a moment, "is that when I left the Hokage Tower, it was exploding. But Yamato has probably dealt with that little bother."

Shikaku smirks. "Somehow I think it won't be the last time he rebuilds it. As long as it _is_ rebuilt… then the Will of Fire is still burning."


	16. Chapter 16

Since he now knows his mother was born an Inuzuka but left the clan to marry under civil but disapproving terms, and that the clan did nothing when he was left an orphan, Kakashi's visits to the Inuzuka lands were at first a bit strained on his side.

Tsume's invitation caught him off-guard entirely that first time, and he was even more thrown by the purpose of her invitation: offering her services to assist in integrating the former Root back into the normal ranks of the village.

It was a frank discussion held in hushed voices with the prowling patrol of the clan dogs keeping every outsider at bay. Tsume admitted to him that Danzo had blackmail material on her—Kakashi didn't press on what—that forced her hand into allowing him to take a child from the clan. Tsume conjectured that this was the case for many of the clans. But unlike the other clans, who as Kakashi well-knew had all surrendered multiple children over the years, the Inuzuka had only ever given up that one child—and even more surprising, they had actually been given the child back.

The reason was, the Root brainwashing program severed the connection between the young man and his dog, leaving him, as far as Danzo was concerned, useless.

Tsume described the young man, her nephew, as having been "like a smashed shell" when he first came back to them, but the Inuzuka clan and their dogs had worked hard together to reconnect their clan member, and Tsume believed that it was actually the dogs that were the key. Perhaps worth a try to see if it worked with other Root members?

It's only been a few weeks, and most of the Root members are only reporting to the Inuzuka grounds under orders. But seeing Sai, at least, working with the dogs gives Kakashi a big smile behind his mask.

The artist is drawing various creatures at a madcap rate, sending inky squirrels and rabbits and other prey animals skittering about the meadow just inside the gate of the compound, to the barking delight of a herd of puppies. Akamaru and Kiba are apparently attempting to train the pups, although the way Kiba's voice and Akamaru's barks layer over each other, it's doubtful the excited young dogs would be able to take away much from it.

Then one pup suddenly gets the idea of attacking the source. Within half a minute Sai is at the bottom of a ninken pile, tiny snouts licking at his tummy and sending Sai into paroxysms of ticklish laughter.

"Oi!" Kiba laughs as well. "Hey! Come off of him! Cheaters!"

The pups whine but allow Sai to struggle to sit up, still laughing weakly.

"I didn't know you were ticklish Sai," Kakashi says as the puppies gambol over to sniff the newcomer.

"Neither did I." Sai rummages about in the long grass to retrieve his brushes and other tools.

"Mom said you'd be by." Kiba stretches, and hops on Akamaru's back who had already bounded into position without needing to be asked. "She isn't back yet but I'll grab you the reports. Be back in a min."

Kakashi sits down in the grass next to Sai and accepts a lap full of puppies with pleasure. They were the real reason why he chose to come here in person, despite the awkwardness of the still unacknowledged kinship connection. Idly, he wonders if Kiba even knows about it... not that they are very closely related, after all.

"Perhaps you should get reports from some of the Root members as well?" Sai says.

Kakashi frowns. "I don't want them to think of it as a mission with objectives that can be failed," he tries to explain. "I know you all were already taught to fake emotions. I don't want more fake emotions to fit some target of expressing emotions."

"Animals, real ones, are so directly in touch with themselves," Sai says. "If nothing else, observation is improving the vivacity of my art. It is also interesting to me how the dogs manage to be so bestial and yet able to be obedient and effective as well. It seems they do so out of a place of trust and respect. And connection."

The puppies suddenly all leap up and begin barking as they run, and Sai and Kakashi look over to see the puppy's mother arrive and lazily collect her offspring as they yip at her heels, back in the direction of the main kennel.

"I read in a book that humans find the traits of animals that remind them of young human children to be 'cute,'" says Sai, "such as small size, large heads, helplessness, soft cries… And of course, in children, these are evolutionary traits to encourage bonding between children and caregivers, thus increasing survival."

"Hn."

"There is a theory that omegas tend to have more of these traits as well," Sai says. "I remember it was part of the prescreening, before directly ascertaining the dynamic through more invasive methods. It makes me wonder, if I was a child that was called 'cute' by others..."

Kakashi skips over Sai's soul searching. "Wait a minute. Root was able to identify dynamics of children?"

"Oh. Yes," Sai blinks. "Danzo said that male omegas made the best ninja if our vulnerabilities could be handled. That was part of the seal."

The notion that Danzo could test for dynamics was odd enough, but this went even farther. "You didn't mention that the seal had anything to do with dynamics. Wait. So are you saying that all the Root ninja are omegas?"

"Not all. Only most."

"And the seal on your tongue 'handled vulnerabilities'... how?"

"That I do not know. Danzo always applied the seal personally and early."

Kiba and Akamaru lope back to them and Kiba tosses Kakashi a scroll as he stands up. "The reports are sealed inside."

"Thank you, Kiba," Kakashi says. "I think I'd better take this back to Shikaku right away." Mostly to discuss with the shrewd Nara clan head this new information about Root.

However Kakashi is unable to bring up the topic as he joins Shikaku on a meeting already in progress with Darui of Cloud, two unknown Cloud ninja standing casually in the back in the relaxed (or disrespectful, depending on who you asked) manner typical of those from Lightning.

"Oh, I'm glad you're here Kakashi," Shikaku says. "I was just telling Darui-san that I preferred to schedule a meeting when both of us could attend."

"Ah, sorry," says Darui. "I know that you didn't receive any notice of our coming, but the Boss likes to send people to speak directly when he can."

"It's probably safer that way right now," Kakashi agrees, glancing at Shikaku to see if the other temporary Hokage has any input and getting merely a measured, superficially bored look in response.

"The Raikage has been… discussing things with his brother," Darui says with a vague hand gesture that is meant to diplomatically stand in for any number of possible violent and not particularly discussion-related activities. "And with your jinchuuriki."

"Is Naruto recovered?" Kakashi inquires politely.

Darui chuckles. "Aa. Faster than I would have believed. It impressed the Boss quite a bit. You know… we have no reason to be particularly trusting of the Leaf."

"Probably not any more than the Leaf has to be trusting of the Cloud."

"That's so," Darui says slowly, "but at least the Cloud is able to trust the Cloud."

Neither Shikaku nor Kakashi say anything for a few moments, nor do either of them pull any offended faces.

Darui chuckles again. "You're both rather laid-back personalities. Must get dull."

"When you meet Lady Fifth," Shikaku says, "you may feel a more familiar dynamic."

"You're not simply speaking about the Akatsuki and our missing-nin, are you," Kakashi says, deciding to cut across it.

"We know you're no friend of the Akatsuki," Darui replies, still cagey, "but how much of a help can you be when your loyalties and priorities are so internally divided?" He leans forward slightly. "And isn't that a weakness that went straight down to the bottom—and up to the top?"

"The weakness you speak of," Kakashi says, "was always present throughout the challenges of the last few decades—all of which we emerged victorious from. So now that we are dealing with the weakness, we are stronger than ever before."

Darui clicks his tongue and settles back in the chair, looking out the window for a beat. "A look at the history of war between us would be somewhat in your favour overall. But the Cloud never allied with you. Maybe it wasn't always so great being your enemy, but we've been more afraid of how you treat your friends. Or rather what you've done to some friends at the behest of others."

"The Leaf has also suffered from the Cloud under the guise of friendship." Shikaku gets in. "It seems you like to take your friends for yourselves."

Darui smiles. "That's exactly what we do. You put it accurately."

Shikaku and Kakashi exchange glances. The intended dig at the Cloud's history of kidnapping doesn't seem to have garnered the reaction they expected, although it's hard to tell with diplomatic meetings.

With no response from his Leaf counterparts, after a moment Darui continues. "But… with the bad history between us acknowledged on both sides… Lord Raikage recognizes the necessity of working together against a common threat… with hopes for long term peace between our villages and nations." There is a beat. "Lord Raikage understands from Naruto that the Land of Fire daimyo is very… supportive of him. We give our compliments to the Leaf and the Sand, and have moved to secure our own daimyo's support."

 _Great. So now we've started a coup d'etat trend._

The negotiation of alliance continues on cordial, if cautious, terms, with Shikaku's more logistical experience putting him in the lead for most of it.

Since the threat to their jinchuuriki is unmistakable, it really only makes sense for Kumo and Konoha to ally with each other and share their resources and intelligence. After the Raikage's enraged refusal of the Leaf's offer of alliance at the conference, for Darui to come seeking the alliance potentially shows vulnerability. It's understandable, therefore, for him to be so aggressive in pointing out the past and present weaknesses of the Leaf. _"We're not poor beggars here to ask charity from you because you're so much better than we are, and don't think it."_

Kakashi did not think it. Everything he had ever directly experienced of Cloud, or heard in rumour, indicated that the Cloud could indeed be proud of its internal unity and high morale.

Hammering out all the points of an alliance couldn't just be done in a few hours though. Darui looks out the window at the bright spring sunshine and says, "Shall we break for lunch, gentlemen?"

Shikaku sighs, rubbing at his temple. "Aa. Yoshino wanted me back for lunch anyway. If I'm early, she'll be pleased."

"May I treat you to lunch, Kakashi-sama? No business. I'd like to speak to a lightning user from the Land of Fire… it wouldn't be dull, at least."

Kakashi never met a free meal he didn't want. His eye smile is sincere. "Aa, thank you."

Darui chooses the curry house, lets Kakashi order first, and then orders the same thing for himself: eggplant and tofu, extra rice.

"It's not too common to meet with lightning users in the Land of Fire, is it?" Darui says. "Are all your family lightning users?"

 _I have no family._ "My father was a lightning user. Although it's not as uncommon in Konoha as you might think… for example…" Kakashi stops himself from saying _the Hyuuga._ "…the Nara."

"Ah, sorry," Darui apologizes anyway, apparently getting the indelicacy of the topic, but he chooses to shift it back onto something that is for Kakashi even more sensitive. "Your father was very famous, the White Fang, right?"

After speaking to his father and knowing that his spirit had traveled on at last, the topic doesn't churn his stomach as it once would have. "Yes."

Darui drags his chopsticks through the sauce, idly turning over a piece of eggplant. "I've heard you look a lot like him."

Kakashi's smile is a bit tight. "I've heard the same. But he didn't wear a mask."

"Ah, sorry," Darui apologizes yet again, his eyes crinkling. "Is it a sensitive subject?"

Strange to think that there are people in the world—probably most of them, now that he thinks of it—who don't know about the massive shame of his childhood. "I lost him in a hard way."

Darui nods sympathetically. "I only had my mother, growing up… although that was more than many in the village. In Kumo, you know, it's like all the village children are your brothers and sisters… but that just means I've lost more brothers and sisters than most people…"

Kakashi chews a piece of tofu and thinks. He hasn't had a lot of non-battlefield contact with people from Kumo. The villagers had a reputation for being irreverent and direct, but even so. This whole conversation is turning out darker and more personal than he anticipated dealing with for a free meal. Maybe he can feign a reason to get his meal to go.

When Kakashi fakes a remembered appointment to get out, Darui surprises Kakashi by looking genuinely crestfallen.

Something is off about this, and yet it doesn't seem to have to do with the Cloud-Leaf alliance at all… but what else could it be?

—

 _Perfect chakra control._

Sakura huffs as she digs out ginseng. _Perfectly useless chakra control._

She hasn't managed to absorb sage chakra even once. Not even once! Even spending hours every day in stupid child's pose—every hour she can spare away from taking care of Tsunade-shishou and gathering the supplies to do so.

Ginseng acquired, she runs back to camp to compound it with the other ingredients to make the stimulating cream that will help prevent muscle loss and bed sores in her patient. Then dinner. Then feeding and caring for her patient. Then there's an hour to wait for the cream to finish, which she has nothing better to spend on than putting her face in the dirt and her back to the sky in the useless quest for sage mode.

Katusyu-sama has been giving her space lately, refraining from comment during Sakura's meditations, although of course there's no place in the Shikkotsu Woods where the slug is absent.

 _Open the chakra points in my hands and feet._

 _How do I open them? Aren't they already open?_

Sakura breathes in through her nose and out through her mouth.

 _At least the ground is warm and comfortable now that spring is here. Damn, I'm so tired…_

She ends up falling asleep right in the posture.

As she sleeps, she dreams.

And as she dreams, with her creative mind active but not holding itself closed, and with her body perfectly still, the sage energy of the forest enters her.

In the ten minutes that she dreams, she gains enough to enter an imperfect sage mode for the first time.

Such a total mind-body shift is enough to knock her out of her dream, but Sakura doesn't understand what's happening when she awakens.

She feels blind. Yet she can perceive everything, but not through her eyes. Within her mouth, her tongue feels swollen and strange, scraping against the inside of her mouth. She pushes herself up and stands, looking around in bewilderment. She doesn't recognize where she is, because it was dark night when she began meditating and it is still dark, but with her sage-sight she can perceive so much as if it's midday—only there's no colour, but there are even more things that she can perceive, and differently, and so intensely that it threatens to overwhelm her.

"Sakura-san?" a voice says, and this spooks her, because she doesn't _hear_ it and yet she _does_ and this is all an incredibly weird dream, right—

"Sakura-san?"

The voices come from several different directions, and in her already disoriented state this spooks her so badly that she reacts instinctively to gather her chakra and release it in her fist for a punch.

Only instead of a scream, which she intended to let loose, when she opens her mouth, that strange swollen tongue unleashes itself, freaking her out so much that she loses all control over her chakra.

 _Thwoom._

Sakura's slug-tongue—her radula, in fact—sucks in the ordinary chakra of a large patch of the forest. Trees, bushes, ferns, small animals, even small portions of Katsuyu that were in the path of destruction are instantly drained of all their chakra, leaving behind what looks like the aftermath of some awful disease or lightning strike.

The chakra fills up Sakura's Byakugou seal with a blast, sending her crashing to her knees holding her head and providing the last jolt that knocks her out of sage mode.

"Sakura-san!" Katsuyu-sama says, and this time Sakura actually does hear it through her ears. "Are you alright?"

"Katsuyu-sama?" Sakura peers through the moonlit darkness at Katsuyu's many bodies, still disoriented and alarmed, every part of her body practically singing with chakra.

"You unlocked sage mode in your sleep," Katsuyu-sama explains.

"But I wasn't doing anything?"

"Sakura-san. That is the exact point I have been trying to make to you."

Sakura hugs her dirty arms to herself and stares in awe at the devastated forest clearing that had been lush and vibrant when she began meditating. In the dark, she can't even tell where the destruction ends. "Did I really do that?"

"Indeed," says Katsuya-sama. "Why did you suck the chakra of the forest?"

"I didn't… _decide_ to do anything exactly… it was so weird, like a dream or genjutsu…" _Should I be happy? I unlocked sage mode… but…_ "I still don't know how to unlock sage mode. I can't go to sleep during battle!"

"That does seem inadvisable."

"Oh, Tsunade-sama's cream!" Sakura takes off back to the encampment to check on her medicine and her patient, not knowing how long she was asleep before she went into sage mode. She checks Tsunade-sama first… and as she pushes her chakra to check her patient, she realizes that she currently has _so much_ that it's actually a relief. And the "black hole"-like vacancy near her third eye point eagerly drinks in all she can give it.

Tsunade's forehead seal shimmers, and the Fifth Hokage stirs, opens her eyes, and struggles to focus on Sakura's ecstatic face.

"Sakura," she says, her voice strained with disuse, "you mastered the seal, you wonderful girl."

Sakura touches her forehead in shock and feels it beneath her fingertips. And now that the huge excess of chakra is out of her system, she can sense it as well—an amazing resource just waiting to be tapped. Something capable of turning even a girl with no bloodline limits into a one woman powerhouse.

 _Not so useless, maybe…!_

—

Shizune ushers Kakashi in as another visitor is leaving.

"At once, Hokage-sama. And it's so good to have you back!"

Kakashi watches the chuunin leave. "Maa, the villagers really know how to make a guy feel appreciated."

Tsunade snorts and takes another bite of _nikujaga_. The Hokage office is currently half hospital room, half marathon eating challenge, with an elevated bed instead of a desk and a constant stream of well-wishers with offerings of homemade food and packaged luxuries, all of which their recovering Hokage accepts with gusto. She swallows down the mouthful of potatoes and waves a missive at him. "I have a letter here from that paper woman from Rain…" She glances down at the name. "Orikubo Konan. She writes that she lured another former Akatsuki member, alias Tobi, using 'a certain bait'—the Rinnegan, no doubt—and was able to kill him. She's _sure_ she killed him, although she did so in such a method as to not leave much of a body… but the man has already popped up again, this time under his own name."

"Madara." Kakashi breathes in. "Was he able to get the Rinnegan?"

"She doesn't say it outright, but it would seem he was," Tsunade says. "Once she got wind of the impostor, as she thought, she went to check on th body. Gone. Stolen. But she has… portions… of the one she killed. And she would swear the chakra signature, the voice, everything was him. So. Did she kill an impostor? Or is the new one an impostor? Or something else? She hates the thought of having bumbled and wants it investigated, S-class, and Rain barely has ninja to do basic missions. She even offered to pay."

"To pay what?"

Tsunade pushes her empty bowl to the side and reaches for a plate of steaming gyoza. "We keep the two mangekyou sharingan she harvested from the body she killed."

"If they aren't Madara's… then whose are they?" This could be a trap, if Konan is under the Kotoamatsukami mind control jutsu that was Shisui's mangekyou ability… or, for that matter, if Konan's loyalty to Naruto isn't genuine.

"Tread _very_ carefully," Tsunade warns. "I wouldn't entrust this solo to anyone but you. Getting into Amegakure and back to Konoha absolutely undetected is your main goal. If you manage to get any information about this new organization 'Nozomi' en route, that's fine, but _do not_ compromise your cover, no matter how promising the lead."

"Nozomi?"

Tsunade takes a brush and writes the kanji on a piece of paper for him, and also the kanji for _akatsuki._

 _Akatsuki:_ literally meaning the dawn, and associated with knowledge and clarity.

 _Nozomi:_ literally meaning the full moon, but also desire, wish, and hope.

 _So... Akatsuki wished the world to awaken to a new era where everyone knew the same pain and therefore there would be peace. What does Nozomi "wish" for?_

"I have a lot of contacts in the casino world," Tsunade says without embarrassment. "And the word is going around in those circles pretty wildly. People are just disappearing left and right. Every contact I have who says they're going to check it out? They never write back again. Supposedly, they've got something that's more addictive than alcohol or even drugs. And they don't ask for money, which proves they're up to something terrible, even if it wasn't connected to Madara. Be _very_ careful."

"Tsunade-shishou!" Sakura's voice calls from outside the door. "I'm very sorry, but it's almost the four hour mark now!"

Tsunade makes a face. "Alright, come in then."

The door opens. "Oh! Kakashi!"

It's barely been a few months since they last saw each other, but Kakashi's casual _yo_ dies in his throat as he looks at his former pupil. Specifically, the deceptively delicate lavender emblem on her forehead.

She narrows her eyes a little in confusion at his lack of greeting, but bustles in anyway towards her mentor and patient.

"You mastered the seal," he says. "Congratulations, Sakura."

"Oh!" Her hand goes up to the seal self-consciously, but she checks herself mid-motion and returns to preparing some foul-coloured but sweet smelling concoction. "Haha, yeah. It was an accident, actually."

"I might as well tell you now, since you're both here," Tsunade says as Sakura begins working the substance into her arm, "Sakura, obviously, will be going to assist in Fuu-san's delivery as soon as we can spare her—but eventually you will have to go as well."

"Huh?! Tsunade-sama, I don't know anything about medic skills—"

"Not for medic skills, idiot," Tsunade cuts him off. "When a female jinchuuriki gives birth, the seal weakens. Fuu-san will be exceptionally vulnerable to Madara. Minato taught you seals, yes?"

"Uh… over fifteen years ago, but—"

"That's the best we've got," Tsunade says brusquely. She rolls up the mission scroll. "Here. And good luck."

—

"Forehead, wait up!"

Sakura stops her leap just in time, the convenience store bag in her hands swaying violently from the checked momentum. "Ino-chan? What's up?"

"You have the same idea as me," says Ino, glancing at the bag. "Where are you going? Can we talk on the way? Oh, and can I grab something for myself first?"

"Sure." Sakura actually is running late, which is why she just grabbed an egg salad sandwich, an apple, and a canned energy drink, but she can just hustle a little bit extra. She follows Ino back inside.

"Irasshaimase," mumbles the clerk without shifting his eyes from his magazine.

Ino grabs a packaged seafood pasta salad from the cooler and a bottle of aloe juice. "So you didn't tell me where you're headed."

"Oh. Home visit for Kurenai-sensei."

Ino's eyes light up as she grabs a fashion magazine on the way to the till. "Oh! You're going to see Asuma-sensei's baby?! Can I come too?!"

"Well… I don't see why not," Sakura hedges as Ino pays. "I mean. I think Kurenai-sensei would be glad to see you, and she could probably use some help, speaking as her doctor. I mean…" She trails off, looking at the seemingly oblivious clerk, but she knows better than to assume that people aren't listening for gossip in a ninja village.

Ino waits until they're on the way to press her. "So? Spill."

"Well, the Sarutobi clan would help," Sakura says as they run, "but it's the kind of help that comes with orders and traditions and advice…"

"No need to say more." Ino scowls. "Stupid backwards clans. Actually, that's kind of what I wanted your help with. The council election—you know my father is running?"

Utatane and Homura had undergone a long trial for conspiracy and treason (among other Danzo and Orochimaru related offences), but they had finally been found guilty and sentenced to house arrest, which leaves two spots open on the council for the first time in years. "Yeah."

"I want you to nominate me."

Sakura nearly misses her footing. "Me?!"

"Who better than you? You're a jounin. You're the head of the hospital. You're the Hokage's apprentice, so you have pull with her—and don't think I don't know you can get Naruto on your side any time you want too."

"Naruto doesn't have a vote because he's a genin," Sakura says. "Also, you're _not_ a jounin."

"I am though," Ino says cheerfully.

"Since when?!"

"Since yesterday. See, the mission I was just on, the squad leader was on the take. I caught him out just in time, killed him, took over as temporary leader and finished the mission as assigned. Apparently if you kill a jounin you get to be a jounin. Like promotion in shogi I guess."

"Did you use that line on Shikamaru when you told him?"

Ino touches down outside Kurenai's apartment building and flashes her a big grin. "Hell yeah I did. Of course all he had to say was that he was just glad I was alright. He's gotten so _nice_ lately. It's creepy."

"It's not creepy to care about your teammates, you tiresome woman," a lazy voice says from around the corner, and a moment later Shikamaru appears, half-smoked cigarette dangling from his fingers. Sakura opens her mouth, and Shikamaru cuts her off. "And I wash my hands before I hold Mirai-chan. Tch."

"Sakura's going to nominate me for council," Ino says proudly, acting totally oblivious to Sakura's heated glare.

If Shikamaru sees it, he also chooses not to acknowledge it. "Of course. It's good to know we have your support."

 _We? Wait a minute, who is we?_

Sakura opens her mouth to protest but then a voice comes from the open window above. "Is that Sakura here Shikamaru?"

"Yeah," Shikamaru calls back to Chouji. "She's here for the check up I guess, but Ino's along too."

"Sakura said yes!" Ino calls.

Chouji's warm round face brightens even further, and Sakura feels like she could wilt under his whole-hearted approval. "Oh! That's good! I'll make more fried chicken!" His head disappears back into the unit.

Shikamaru carelessly stubs out the cigarette in the receptacle and leads them in, leaving Sakura feeling like she knows what it's like for enemies to face the infamous InoShikaChou.

After the check up and more food than anyone but Chouji could eat, the boys volunteer to take out the trash and run some errands so Kurenai-sensei can relax while Mirai naps. As Ino turns on the kettle for tea, Sakura attempts to hedge a little on this unexpected foray into politics.

"You know, I can nominate you," she opens with, "but I won't be here for the vote. Now that Mirai-chan is two weeks old, I'm being sent to help Fuu-chan and Hinata-chan with their pregnancies. I won't be back until Fuu-chan delivers at least—she's due in July."

"What's this?" Kurenai-sensei says. "Ino, you're trying for the council?"

"Hell yeah," Ino says. "I know I probably won't win, but there needs to be somebody on the council who actually wants to clean up, not just cover up."

Kurenai frowns. "Shino-kun's father has been nominated. He's a good man. And an excellent ninja."

"I know. My father has been nominated as well. And a number of others, all with the same thing in common: they collaborated with Danzo, more or less unwillingly. Blackmail or fear or whatever. But if this supposed blackmail exists on them all, aren't they _still_ vulnerable to being blackmailed? Or if they were afraid of Danzo, Madara's even scarier…"

"I saw Shino-kun here yesterday. He brought diapers, thoughtful boy." Kurenai pauses for a moment, and says without pressure, "I think he misses you."

Ino tosses her blonde ponytail as if one of Shino's kikai insects is buzzing at her. "I know. I'm not angry at him, if he's worried about that. It wasn't just that we disagreed—it was that we couldn't seem to find a way to work through it. I guess we're not just very compatible… and it was never likely to work long term, anyway, since we're both heirs. Anyway."

Kurenai nods. "I thought it might be something like that. How about you, Sakura?"

Sakura blushes scarlet, and Ino laughs. "Oh, come on, Kurenai-sensei, don't you know that Sakura is 70% forehead and 30% Sasuke-obsession?"

"Ino-pig…!"

With a stern face and a shushing gesture, Kurenai points in the direction of Mirai's room before Sakura can blow her top. "I know about Sakura's attachment," the genjutsu expert says once Sakura has subsided to an angry scowl, "but I had also heard that things may have reason to change in that regard…?"

The kettle whistles, and Sakura stares down at her hands in her lap as Ino gets up to make the tea. "Shino has been very talkative, I suppose."

"He doesn't say much, but what he does say is usually relevant," Kurenai says.

Sakura looks up, and as she dreaded, Kurenai's crimson eyes are full of sincere concern for her, not prurient interest in gossip fodder. "Kurenai-sensei… I don't know what to do. I told Naruto that I wasn't in love with Sasuke anymore and that I was in love with him instead… he knew I was lying, but I don't really know _what_ I feel." It's a struggle to come up with the words. "I don't know who Sasuke is now… maybe I never really knew him. He's become someone so dark… I thought I could kill him, but even when he told me to kill his defenceless comrade, even when he tried to kill _me_ … I just couldn't. It's such a mess…"

"How you _want_ to feel?" Kurenai says, and then as Sakura opens her mouth, but before she can speak, adds, "And make that feelings that are actually under your own control, please."

"I want… to want the right thing. For me and Sasuke and everyone."

"I think, Sakura, that you are such a serious, hard-working girl, that you need to try to leave room for life to surprise you. Ah, thank you Ino." She takes a sip of tea. "Do something silly. Why not let Guy's boy who's so crazy about you take you on a date?"

"Lee?!"

"Well, why not?"

"Well…" Sakura is no longer twelve years old, and condemnations of Lee's eyebrows, attire, and general dorkiness do not leap immediately out of her mouth, even if they surface in her mind. Lee is also sweet, kind, a good friend, hard-working, responsible… and it's true that as hideous as the jumpsuit is, it makes it crystal clear that Lee has an amazing body, even for a ninja. But her mind trips back over that phrase in the middle: _a good friend._ "I don't know if I could ever return his feelings. I don't want to lead him on… And his devotion is already… well, exasperating, sometimes."

"But you don't have to think a lifetime down the road or even a year or a month, Sakura," chides Kurenai-sensei. "What I'm saying is, let him buy you a dango and open yourself up to a chance."

"Kurenai-sensei," says Ino, "how very youthful of you!" She gives the two other women a big thumbs up, lightening the mood.

"Well," Sakura says, sipping her tea, "it's not like I have to make a decision right away. I won't be back until well into summer."

Kurenai-sensei smiles fondly. "If Hinata-chan has a girl, she can take all of Mirai-chan's clothes that she outgrows…"

It's a typically pragmatic, future-focused response from Kurenai-sensei, and Sakura smiles. Being around the jounin is as soothing as the tea.

"Oh, and be sure to tell her that it won't be as bad as she fears, if I know her." Kurenai chuckles. "She's far from the first teenager to put the baby before the ring—even among clan heirs, as Tsume could tell her but probably won't."

—

Early summer in the Land of Grass is unexpectedly muggy and insect-filled. Yamato is suffering the worst out of all of them, of course. Insects of all kinds are always drawn to the wood-user, perhaps enjoying some floral note to his blood and sweat, and he suffers in silence… very, very loud silence. Despite the mosquito bites clearly visible on his bare torso, Sai frequently gives his big fake smile when he says something like, "This is unpleasant, isn't it?"

"Dammit Sai!" Yamato finally snaps at one point as he attempts to shave his face around the bites in their crowded shared hotel room. "If it's so unpleasant why are you grinning like that?!"

"Shared suffering increases bonds," Sai says slowly. "Is that not correct?"

Neji is the fourth—ostensibly as the medic. Although Neji turned out to be as genius at medical ninjutsu as he was at anything else, he was also entirely stingy with his treatments, unlike most of the soft-hearted medics Kakashi had dealt with in the past. Insect bites and rashes simply earned a cold stare.

Chasing leads on Nozomi has lead them to this seedy but bustling casino town, a few big steps below the major flashy resorts of the Land of Fire or elsewhere. When Gaara came to power in the Land of Wind, he drastically cut the supply of illicit opium, and production had moved to the more politically volatile Land of Grass. The drug production had brought increased gang pressure to the area, along with gambling and prostitution… all the things that suffering people use to forget their pain.

It was apparently a natural recruiting ground for Nozomi.

Unlike Akatsuki, which operated in the shadows, Nozomi's recruitment efforts were far more open and broad. Everyone is talking about it, but it's the matter of where one goes to join that isn't so obvious.

Some are frightened of it. "It's worse than opium," the bartender whispers after Kakashi tips her well for the third night in a row. "They don't come back. They come back, but they aren't the same, and then they're gone. Gone for good."

A local thug scowls. "Yeah, they're takin' all my workers. Who's gonna do my deliveries? Demand's never been so good. How come I'm havin' to do this shit myself? You want a job?"

Kakashi titters. "I couldn't possibly. I have a very weak constitution and only one eye… Alas, if only I _could_ do such physical labour, I wouldn't have this vile habit…! I dread to think of how I shall support it when my patron tires of me." He sighs dramatically. "Going for good sounds better and better…"

The bartender gives him a sympathetic look as she withdraws a discreet distance down the bar. The thug gives him a disgusted look, finishes his shochu, and exits.

Kakashi sighs again, not needing to fake his frustration. Perhaps he overdid it with his professed physical weakness? He was trying to avoid being too obviously attractive bait, but maybe he had made himself not worth recruiting at all.

A red-head woman in glasses settles in the thug's vacated stool, and Kakashi nearly does a double-take. Only years and years in ANBU save him. Not that it would have made much difference, as she turns to him and gives him a look that lets him know she knows damn well who he is, despite his disguise.

"You need to take your team and leave the Land of Grass," she says, getting straight to the point. "If he finds out you're here, he _will_ kill you."

"You're still with him…?" Last time Kakashi saw Sasuke's medic, Sasuke wanted her dead.

"I'm useful to him for now," she says.

"You could be useful elsewhere."

She smiles. "No. I'm not looking to betray him. I can't do that, even now."

"It's not a place that wishes to betray him. Does he know about the elders?"

"Oh yes. Too little, too late, for him. Just painting the outside of a house made of rotten wood. He's still determined to burn it to the foundation. But. He can't yet. Not for a long while, I think."

Now that was useful information, if true, that Sasuke was not planning any short-term assault on Konoha. "Why are you telling me this, if you are loyal to him?"

"That girl… she didn't kill me, even though she should have, to preserve her cover. If she had killed me without hesitation, I think he would have accepted her," she says candidly. "Not forever, of course, but in the same way he's accepting me right now. And… she cried for me, even though I was her enemy. I didn't want her to do that, because… I have a weakness for people who save my life. They make me do foolish things."

The girl reaches over, grabs Kakashi's half-full beer, drains the glass before he can protest, and stands up. "I'm not kidding around. I sensed your chakra before we were even close. None of the rest of them are trackers, so if you leave, they'll never know. If you stay and he finds you, you're dead. Anyone who he feels a bond with, unless they're useful, they have to die. He won't allow himself to be tied to anything, and he wants to make sure of it himself. Leave via the south or west. I need to go back to them now."

With that, she is gone. Kakashi blinks at the empty glass. Her answer for why she was warning him was… to pay back Sakura? Or did she mean she was trying to emulate Sakura's sparing of an enemy?

In any event, while he's not yet willing to accept as truth the girl's assumption that he's no match for Sasuke, like all their Nozomi missions, stealth is the number one priority, and there's certainly no way a clash with Sasuke wouldn't blow all their covers sky high. Time to take the intelligence and run back to the village—and maybe sweet-talk Shizune into sharing some more of that anti-itch creme.

"I see them," Neji says while Sai is sealing up their things and Yamato is at the front desk settling the account. "To the north-northeast. It's a huge group. How much detail do you want?"

"Just the major details for now," Kakashi answers. "The most powerful ninja, and anything that seems particularly significant."

"Sasuke, of course—he's at the centre of it. The whole thing is inside a genjutsu. A big man with bright hair and some strange sage chakra. Then another odd one—earth natured, but I'd swear it's behaving like liquid. Looks like a a guy from the Land of Water, with those teeth. None of the rest seem particularly noteworthy."

"Do you see a young woman with red hair and glasses?"

A short pause. "No."

She isn't back yet then. "How many, approximately?"

"At least a hundred, but people are coming and going pretty frequently. One or two at a time. Most of them are just standing there. I don't see any kind of hand-offs or anything taking place. The newcomers approach Sasuke, and then they just stand around."

Yamato pokes his head in the open door. "We're ready to go, sempai."

"Good, but stop calling me sempai."

—

Sakura sees Fuu's mate for the first time after she's been with the Jinchuuriki Squad—as the three proudly call themselves—for a few weeks. Although she thought she knew what to expect from the way Fuu talked her ear off about him, it actually renders her even more speechless.

Fuu talked about Kisame like he was the hero of a romance novel. But what Sakura sees walking over the water toward the island is a monster. A massive brute with an oversized sword, his blue skin making him look more like something out of the horror section than any romance. And the closer he gets, the more inhuman the details—his tiny piercing eyes, the gills… she's seen sharpened teeth on Kiri-nin before, of course, but his look like they grew in that way.

 _The tailless tailed beast…_

"Oi! Kisame, Kisame!" Fuu cries joyfully. "Why have you been away so long? Did you bring me something? Don't tell me it's fish, eh? You need to meet my friend Sakura-chan! She's helping me with our baby, ya know!"

Naruto suddenly appears among them out of nowhere, getting in between the women and Kisame.

"Hey, hey, Naruto," Fuu says reproachfully, "I told ya, ya don't need to do that—"

"He does though," says Kisame, looking neither intimidated nor offended. "My answer's the same as always."

"Say it," Naruto says, "so that there's no misunderstanding -ttebayo."

"I won't harm her," Kisame says, "or let her be harmed, and I'm not helping with any attack on any of you."

Naruto stares him down for half a minute, then nods, still not smiling, and turns to Sakura. "C'mon, Sakura-chan. Let's go back to the others."

Fuu squeals happily and leaps upon her enormous mate with much more agility than should be possible with the size of her belly as Sakura follows Naruto away.

"What was that about?" Sakura says, bewildered.

"I don't like him around here," Naruto grumbles. "He's not lying—I can tell that through Kurama, now that we're buds—but I don't trust him at all. He's still with _them_. How could anyone remain part of an organization that wants to kill your mate?!"

Sakura looks back over her shoulder briefly and turns back just as quickly, repulsed by the glimpse of Kisame and Fuu doing what could only be described as heavy petting right there on the beach. "But why does Fuu…?"

"Fuu has less self-preservation instincts than a wooden training dummy dattebayo," Naruto practically growls, his arms crossing in his ill-temper. "Do you know she actually tried to buddy up with Kakuzu and Hidan?! The only reason she escaped is because Jiraiya-sensei had just fixed up her seal for her and so when they'd killed her friends and she realized she was in deep shit, she was able to surprise them with moves they didn't know she could do. And she _knew_ all about Kakuzu—she grew up in Waterfall! But she thought they could have tea together and become friends!"

"This is a little hypocritical of you, Naruto. I mean… well…"

"Sakura-chan!" His lip pouts.

"You made Zabuza cry…"

"Zabuza wasn't a bad guy—"

"And _you_ cried when Gaara was trying to kill me—"

"Hey, hey, hey! Who told you I cried?! You were unconscious! Hey! Sakura-channnn! Stoooop! Don't embarrass me in front of the others!" Naruto whines.

Sakura giggles, but drops the subject.

When they get back to the house they're all sharing, Sakura barely has time to greet Hinata-chan before Naruto grabs her by the hand and sweeps her upstairs with him, leaving Sakura staring awkwardly at Anko's lascivious grin.

"Hmm… I think the boy has the right idea… I think I'll go find Bee…" She stretches her arms way up and twists like a sinuous snake, then prowls off in search of her… whatever he is to her.

Sakura is glad that Anko left because she doesn't want to have to talk right now. She wanders off to a nearby training field, but instead of training she ends up lying on her back looking up at the sky. She studies the clouds. She wonders if their movement is from the wind blowing them, or the enormous island-sized turtle moving. How far are they off the coast of Lightning now?

 _What a weird life I live._

She frowns as her stomach rumbles. She really doesn't want to return early to the house and end up walking in on or even just hearing any more of Naruto and Hinata-chan's amorous encounters.

Intellectually, she knows that while the two had an abrupt start to their intimate relationship, they've now been together for over seven months, most of it continuously together. It's only natural that Naruto would have fallen in love with Hinata by now, especially since everything she's researched and experienced regarding bonds indicated that the more instinctive and flexible a person's personality is, the more rapidly and deeply they will adjust to bonding with a stranger or near-stranger.

Still… it's not that she's jealous… it's just weird to have Naruto quickly and immediately go to Hinata's side, instead of hers, in every instance. She's not jealous; she's just used to Naruto being constantly sweet on her, so it's just different, and therefore odd.

No, she's definitely not jealous…

Sakura huffs and pulls out a clump of grass.

 _How does a turtle's back accumulate enough soil to maintain an ecosystem anyway…_

She can't distract herself, of course.

She's happy for Naruto and Hinata-chan, truly. And she never wanted to be romantically involved with Naruto and still doesn't. But unconsciously, she had gotten used to being "the one Naruto loves". What she considered an embarrassment and an irritation when they were just kids trying to graduate the academy, she had gradually come to see as a high honour. To be beloved by someone who was so deeply wonderful, so talented, so _special_ —especially when it felt like hardly anyone in the world thought very much of her—that was a real comfort. And it can't be the same now. She's still "Sakura-chan"—still absolutely a precious person to him, she doesn't doubt that at all. But it won't be the same. And in a weird life where nothing is staying the same, losing something like that hurts.

 _It probably means I'm selfish…_

She gets up and goes back to the house. Hinata-chan greets her with a warm smile and Naruto with a mouthful of ramen.

"Sakura-chan!" His loud greeting sprays a mist of noodle particles in the air, and Sakura wrinkles her nose. "Hinata made me _hiyashi-ramen_! I bet she'd make you some! You know, she's actually good at cooking? Hey, maybe she could teach you! Then you could cook for us when Team 7 goes on missions -ttebayo."

"Naruto, are you saying you don't like my cooking?!" Sakura says, as Hinata places a finger to her lips to indicate she hasn't betrayed Sakura's secret. "And _don't_ talk with your mouth full. _Gross,_ " she adds, when Naruto seems about to try to defend himself with another mouthful of cold ramen noodles and thin sliced meat and vegetables.

"I'd be happy to make you some if you'd like, Sakura-chan," Hinata-chan says softly. "There's plenty."

Sakura joins them for a delicious meal, which Bee and Anko also arrive in time to partake of. When Bee is around Naruto, there's never a need to talk unless one wants to, because between Bee's raps and Naruto's loudmouth, there's never a lull. Sakura is pleasantly surprised though by how much Hinata speaks up, often hesitantly, but the amount of eye contact in particular she's making is much improved.

Fuu doesn't return until late at night, to the room she's sharing with Sakura. The lights snap on as Sakura wakes up with an instinctive lunge for her bedside kunai. Fuu's even more giggly and happy than usual, and her skin's all marked up with the largest love bites Sakura's ever seen. In fact she never would have thought they were love bites if she hadn't seen the mouth and teeth that inflicted them; she would have thought she was looking at some kind of horrible new disease.

"What a great day eh? I'm loving this heat. We went skinny dipping!" Fuu says happily as she tosses her clothing into the hamper and prances naked over to the dresser, grabbing a nightie and clean panties. "Kisame was really glad to know that you Konoha nin are going to make sure our baby makes it out alright. And me too, of course, not that I was really worried about that. I'm pretty tough, eh?"

She turns out the light, plunging their shared bedroom back into darkness.

—

Kakashi took every precaution of secrecy on his journey to the Turtle Island.

Sakura decided for both health and security reasons that inducing Fuu early was the best choice. Because spies might be watching to notice his absence from Konoha, he leaves a very low chakra clone in his apartment for an _Icha Icha_ film marathon and makes the journey to the border with Lightning in a single day, stopping to take refuge in an abandoned Leaf hideout that hasn't been used since the Third War. He plans to take a two hour nap, pop a soldier pill and push on to meet with Naruto at the agreed contact point.

When his alarm blares and he automatically reaches to his hip pouch, a hand catches his wrist and he feels reality warping away.

" _Kai_!" He yells, wresting his wrist back from the aggressor as he rolls away and up into a defensive crouch, but nothing about the bizarre environment so much as flickers. It's a black and white world, seemingly man-made with its precise rectangular pillars and platforms, yet there is only dark horizon in every direction, far too wide to be inside a building. The dim unearthly light has no obvious source and casts no shadows.

"Not a genjutsu," says the Masked Man mockingly. "Did you have a good nap?"

A man standing behind the one in the mask steps to the side, allowing himself to be seen. It's Sasuke.

 _Shit, shit, shit._ The nap didn't do nearly enough to raise his chakra levels enough to fight Sasuke, let alone him and Madara. _And where the fuck are we and how did we get here?"_

"You should be grateful to your former student," Madara sneers. "I would have been happy enough to let him sneak attack you in your sleep, but he was insistent that you know you'd been beaten outright by the power of a _real_ Uchiha."

The sneer in his voice isn't only meant for Kakashi, he thinks, but who knows to what extent Sasuke is aware or cares about it.

"Well, I'll leave you to it," the Masked Man says more cheerfully, sounding almost like his old Tobi personality. "I've got a tailed beast to extract and since she's already in labour the clock is ticking… tick, tick, tick…"

Madara makes a jerky clockwise ticking gesture with one gloved finger as he says this, and then his body swirls and vanishes.

"Did you plan to eat a soldier pill before completing your journey?" Sasuke says coldly.

Kakashi blinks. "Yes."

"Then go ahead," Sasuke says. "I'm going to rip that eye out of your head because you, Hatake Kakashi, are unworthy to have it—not because you've run out of chakra."

Kakashi reaches into his hip pouch and pulls out a soldier pill—taking the opportunity also to palm a self-destructing seal tag into his glove. If this fight does turn unwinnable, there's no way in hell he's letting Sasuke take Obito's eye. He'd much rather blow his head to smithereens than let Obito's eye be used to further a cause that would be such an insult to his memory.

The chalky pill turns to thick streaks of powder in his dry mouth, and he works his jaw, trying to encourage himself to salivate and swallow it all down. Despite what Sasuke is grandstanding about wanting a "fair fight", the mediocre lift provided by a soldier pill won't bring him anywhere near his usual level.

"Well?" Sasuke crosses his arms. "Aren't you going to start your usual lecture about my foolish revenge?"

"I told you then it would be the last time, and I meant it." Kakashi glances around the area again, noting there is a surprising assortment of detritus in the area. Bones, some of which look human; random weapons and gear; an enormous chunk of what looks like a castle wall, which is somehow strangely familiar, but he can't quite think of why. Most of the area is sterile with perfectly smooth surfaces and sharp edges, but there are places with scorch marks and others that are full-blown craters. Mostly to stall for time to plan, he says, "Doesn't Madara's obvious contempt for you bother you?"

"You're scoping out the area, looking underneath the underneath," Sasuke says, beginning a slow sideways walk, pressing Kakashi to circle the opposite direction to maintain the distance. "Such useful lessons you taught me… trying to make me into a good little tool for Konoha."

"So you'd rather be a tool for a mad man who wants to place the entire world under genjutsu?"

"I see you still agree with the fundamental point. Shinobi _are_ only tools, aren't they? Those that refuse to use others merely allow themselves to be used. Orochimaru wanted to use me, but in the end I only used him. For the time being, Madara and I are both useful to each other. Eventually though one will be the tool and the other will be the user. It's exciting, really." Sasuke laughs and unsheaths his sword. "Itachi couldn't kill me for Konoha. Inadvertently, he taught me that there are more important things than one's masters. I've heard they called you 'Friend Killer Kakashi' because you so obediently killed your comrades for the sake of the village. Now let's see who wins this battle: Friend Killer Kakashi… or Master Killer Sasuke!"

With that, Sasuke launches himself at Kakashi. The only noises for the next minute are the clash of sword on kunai and the breath of the two opponents. Their perfectly matched movements could almost be a choreographed pattern in an exhibition spar. Sasuke is toying with him, but Kakashi doesn't press the attack back. He needs as much time as he can get to think.

 _Number one: where the hell am I?_

 _Number two: how the hell do I get out of here?_

Even if he did manage to kill or disable Sasuke, there would be no point without an escape plan to get out before Madara comes back. He fakes seizing a feint and uses substitution jutsu to switch places with a knocked-over pillar. The blunt surface crackles under the ferocity of Sasuke's strike. With a scowl, Sasuke tests the edge of the blade, and sheathes the sword.

"I had hoped to fight longer with you with kenjutsu, but since you've dulled my blade—"

"Earth Release: Decapitation Jutsu!" A lightning clone pulls Sasuke into the ground. However, instead of countering with a lightning jutsu, as Kakashi had expected, the ground shatters and falls away as Sasuke summons the ribcage of the Susano'o.

Kakashi has seen a lot, but he takes a step back as the real him watches Sasuke build, layer upon layer, the upper body of the ghastly spectre. Unlike before, it is a brilliant red that fades to a dull burnt orange as the skeletal form is wrapped in a more humanoid shape. _So… now that he has Itachi's eyes, he also has Itachi's Susano'o…_

"Behold, Kakashi!" Sasuke shouts. "The true potential of a real Uchiha with _two_ eyes. I now wield the Yata Mirror, which can reflect back any jutsu you attempt to use on me, and the Sword of Totsuka, which I will use to seal you in a drunken world of nightmares for all time—once I've taken back your Sharingan!"

Sasuke stalks after the clone, not wielding the sword, but attempting to grab it with an empty hand while using the mirror shield to discourage any attempts at ninjutsu.

The real Kakashi takes another step back and freezes as he hears a crack, highly aware of even the slightest sound that may give away his real position. Sasuke is too intent on wailing away at his prey, expounding all the while on the greatness of the true Uchiha, and Kakashi relaxes a bit before looking down to see what he stepped on.

It's a human arm, rotted down to the bones, severed cleanly through the upper arm. He had fractured the ulna bone with his foot, apparently. There is no sign of the rest of the corpse anywhere around, though there is a bloodstain around the area where the humerus bone is cut through. Just a human arm, that apparently rotted right there, undisturbed by any large animal or human scavenger out looking to pick up valuables like that ring—

Kakashi stops himself. _That ring is…!_

As quietly as he can, he crouches down and slides the ring off the index finger, and peers at the blue-green stone engraved unimaginatively with _aoi_ , blue-green.

 _Deidara's arm… that I warped away with my mangekyou… and that wall! That's it, I know now! That wall is from that mission!_ In his late ANBU years, Kakashi had needed to make a dramatic escape out of a foreign prison and had used kamui in desperation to remove the final barrier between him and freedom. Of course he remembered the wall, since he had looked at it with his Sharingan; it was only the context which confused him.

 _So this ability of Madara's eye… it's like a mirror image of my own… he can warp himself to this dimension… that must be how he allows attacks and jutsu to pass through his body…_

 _A mirror image…_

Sasuke's Susano'o finally manages to catch the nimble lightning clone and crushes it with his hand. The brief crackle of electricity from the clone's death does nothing to Sasuke under the protection of Susano'o.

"What a waste of chakra, Kakashi." Sasuke slowly turns, his eyes searching for the slightest sign of the real Kakashi. "You know, if you hadn't bothered with a clone, we might have been able to fight for a few more minutes. With how low your chakra levels are now, it'll be over too quickly. Madara will be so upset. He'd hoped this would provide me a true challenge for my training."

"Thunder Burial: Feast of Lightning!" The lightning arcs from Kakashi's position and manages to catch the Yata Mirror at an angle, sending the lightning bolts cascading off away from both of them.

"Lightning Ball!" Kakashi says, hoping against hope that such a minor technique won't tip off Sasuke. He's running low on chakra and he has no desire to see his father again quite so soon.

This time Sasuke angles the Mirror to send the jutsu straight back at Kakashi, and Kakashi dodges with effort to maintain the illusion that he's trying not to be hit. He activates the kamui ability in his eye as he feigns preparing another Lightning Ball, watching and hoping that Sasuke will angle the mirror correctly. If he doesn't, the hand signs will activate the self-destruction tag instead.

Up until now he had never really given any thought to where objects he used his jutsu on went. He had just assumed that they were irrevocably destroyed, much like the Tsuchikage's dust particle jutsus. He has no idea if his power allows him to choose a particular place, but he has to try, focusing as hard as he can on the rendezvous point.

Kakashi's luck is in. The visual jutsu pings near instantly across the space between Kakashi and the Yata Mirror.

"No!" The howl of rage and the beginning of Sasuke charging to cut the distance between them is all Kakashi sees before he is warped away.

"What the—Kaka-sensei?! Where did you come from?" Naruto staggers back comically.

"I'll explain later. Lead the way as fast as possible. What's going on? Is Fuu captured?"

"Is Fuu—what?! No, she's fine, she's just gone into labour and—wait, why would she be captured dattebayo? Is your eye bleeding? You ran into Akatsuki!" Naruto rushes over the sand and runs across the water, Kakashi keeping up despite his exhaustion.

"Not Akatsuki, but Madara," Kakashi says, choosing to save Sasuke for later lest Naruto get derailed. "He said Fuu was going into labour and he intends to extract the seven tails from her. No, don't go any faster than this—I can't keep up."

"Keep up hell!" Naruto shouts, hefting Kakashi across his shoulder without preamble and taking off at full speed.

 _God, this is even more undignified than piggybacking on Guy,_ Kakashi thinks as he stares down at Naruto's butt.

"Sakura-chan said it was a good thing you were supposed to arrive today," Naruto says as he speeds along. "She said that Fuu probably would take a while to get to the actual pushing because she's a first time mother—ah, fucking squid! I don't have time for your bullshit -ttebayo!"

On Naruto's back, Kakashi can't see much, but he gets sprayed in the face with ocean water as Naruto forms a rasengan in his free hand, and there is a distinct smell of roasted calamari as the attack connects with whatever its target was.

Now thoroughly soaked with ocean water and lightly sprinkled with squid bits, Kakashi takes a moment to pull his mask down and cough out all the water that soaked in.

"Yo, mystery man, better re-hide your face, this is the finish line of your race!"

Kakashi yanks up the mask and only catches a glimpse of a tall, dark-skinned man armed to the teeth with swords before Naruto unceremoniously drops him on his butt in front of him.

"Dammit! You couldn't have kept the mask down two more seconds?!" Naruto says, then sighs. "I know, I know, no time! Hey! Bee! What's the story? Where's Fuu?"

"What's going on, Naruto-kun?" Hinata, doubtless alerted by her mate sense to Naruto's arrival, runs up to them. "Fuu-san is fine, as far as I know. Sakura-chan is with her, and I'm sure she would have called if she needed any assistance. But, of course, now that Kakashi-sensei is here, he should go in to assist in maintaining the seal."

"How long ago did she go into labour?" Kakashi asks.

"Last night, but Sakura-chan said with a first time mother it could take even a whole day… what's wrong?"

"Bee, keep guard on Hinata! Madara is after Fuu!" Naruto makes a pair of shadow clones and leaves them behind to assume the lotus position to gather sage energy while he leads Kakashi to Fuu.

They open the door to Kisame, a tiny sleeping newborn in one arm and Samehada brandished in the other, standing over an unconscious Sakura, with no Fuu in sight.

"You _bastard!"_ roars Naruto, activating a mode Kakashi hasn't seen before, swathed in nine tails chakra yet seemingly totally in control of himself. "You said you wouldn't let them harm her! I know you weren't lying, so _why?!"_

"Ah, the Nine Tails jinchuuriki and… Kakashi?" From the doorway, Madara's usually commanding, mellifluous voice breaks character for a moment, then he composes himself. "Well. This is a surprise. But not necessarily an unwelcome one. We could always use another fuinjutsu expert to help us reseal the Seven Tails."

"She won't be harmed," Kisame says. "She'll survive to experience true peace."

"If you'll come this way?" Madara gestures grandly to the back room of the house as if it is his own mansion. "By the way, I hope you didn't irrevocably damage my kinsman? He is still useful to me."

Naruto, fortunately, doesn't get the implication as he gathers Sakura into his arms and stares down Kisame while Kakashi follows Madara into the back, where the ceiling has been blown clean off the house. A large group stands in a circle around Fuu's unconscious naked body, blood staining the tatami floor between her legs, the massive billowing energy of the seven tailed beast straining to resist the pull of the extractors.

"Not going to answer? I suppose there's no forcing you to." Madara makes a handsign to break a genjutsu, and suddenly the reason for the missing ceiling is clear. Just outside the house is the massive Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. "Houki. Now. Your sacrifice will be remembered."

A ninja with a slashed forehead protector indicating he was a missing-nin from the Land of Water nods and begins making hand seals. _Snake, Boar, Ram, Rabbit, Dog, Rat, Bird, Horse, Snake._ He claps his hands.

Kakashi recognizes it as the Reaper Death Seal. Since only the summoner and his target can see the Shinigami, from the outside nothing appears to happen until the ninja gasps, coughs blood, and slumps over.

"Messiah-sama," one of the devotees says, "did it work?"

"Yes. The yin chakra of the seven tails is now ours," Madara answers. "Now, Kakashi, as you're here, by all means take the lead on resealing the yang chakra back into the jinchuuriki. Be seeing you."

The masked man gathers his followers and warps them all away together along with the statue, leaving Kakashi working feverishly to reseal the yang chakra back into Fuu before she dies. "Naruto! I need your chakra!"

Naruto, Sakura's unconscious body, Kisame, and the baby all rush into the room. Naruto tenderly lays Sakura onto the tatami floor and scowls at Kisame. "Don't even _think_ about touching her while I"m distracted dattebayo!"

"If I wanted to kill her, she would already be dead," Kisame rumbles. "I surprise attacked her with Samehada and drained her chakra dry. I even gave her a heat suppressant, so I haven't treated her at all badly."

"Tch," Naruto snarls as he nearly overwhelms Kakashi with the tidal wave of his chakra. Kakashi concentrates on reforming the seal over Fuu's breast. It was some kind of seal Kakashi wasn't familiar with, modified by what is obviously Jiraiya's work. He only hopes it will hold and function properly.

Fuu blinks her eyes open to Kakashi's face. "Am I… is this heaven?" She clutches at her chest as she sits up. "What's happened to Choumei? No… _no…_ " Her wild eyes catch onto Kisame. "Tengai! Tengai!"

Kisame doesn't hesitate, moving swiftly forward to give the baby to Fuu. "He's just sleeping, I promise. He's fine. You're both fine."

"Fine? Fine?" Fuu clutches the baby so tightly it awakens with a shriek and wails throughout the rest of the conversation. "You let them take me! I begged… you promised…!"

"I promised I wouldn't let them hurt you and they didn't," Kisame says, his massive hands gripping the hilt of Samehada tightly.

"They ripped Choumei in half!" Fuu howls like a wounded animal. "Get out! Get out of here! I never want to see you again, you _monster!_ Get out! Get out! Get out!"

She continues screaming _get out_ , hyperventilating and hysterical, even though Kisame is gone.

"Naruto, get HInata quickly. Fuu and Sakura need medical attention… and the baby," Kakashi adds as an afterthought, looking at the miserable little blue-tinged thing roaring its lungs out in an attempt to match the volume of its mother.

However, Naruto is already haphazardly pumping chakra into Sakura, and she awakens with a start.

"The fuck, Naruto?! How many times have I tried to tell you that's not how you—oh my god!" Sakura is shocked out of her lecture by the sight of Fuu and the newborn. "Fuu, calm down!"

Fuu abruptly stops, hiccups, and then bursts into tears. The baby keeps shrieking.

"It's gonna be alright, hey, hey." Sakura coaxes Fuu's grip on the child into relaxing, her own gentle green chakra pouring into the baby. "Look at little Tengai, ok? He needs you to calm down and be strong, right? You've been through a lot, it's ok. We'll all help you."

Kakashi lets himself sit down and puts a palm to his aching eye.


	17. Chapter 17

The question of what to do next has many possible answers, but none of them good. Kakashi has a lot of time to think about them all, confined to a bed once again with his usual Sharingan hangover.

Fuu has not only just given birth but had her tailed beast extracted, cut in half, and resealed. Between the physical trauma and the sudden halving of her chakra reserves, she isn't in a good state to travel at speed. But if she stays on Turtle Island, the island's natural defences against being found are meaningless. So if Killer Bee and Naruto remain there too, they are also broadcasting their location to Akatsuki, or Nozomi, as they are now rebranding themselves. The important point is that the organization is run by Madara and its ultimate goals remain the same.

Naruto is naturally more worried about Hinata than himself. In her third trimester, Hinata is still mobile, but the question is where to take her? Are Nozomi planning to take advantage of her vulnerability to attempt to capture Naruto?

And Kakashi is holding onto a molten secret… his fight with Sasuke.

 _"Anyone who he feels a bond with, unless they're useful, they have to die…"_

So, not only Naruto, but also Kakashi and Sakura… is there anyone else that Sasuke might want to eliminate specifically?

The redhead had also said she thought Sasuke couldn't make a move to attack Konoha yet. Why not? The most obvious answer is that Sasuke doubts his ability to succeed. In their fight, Sasuke referred to his fight with Kakashi partially as a form of training. Certainly the young man is actively increasing his strength. What else? He's still working with Madara—does he have an agreement with the Nozomi organization to attack Konoha as an army, perhaps once Sasuke has contributed… something?

Who does Kakashi tell and when and how and how much?

How will Naruto react?

"Kakashi?"

Sakura's voice interrupts his brooding. He turns his eyes to the door, where she's standing just outside the threshold with an armful of linens. "Yes, Sakura?"

"I know it isn't ideal… although I don't know what would be… but I think I have to move Fuu and the baby back to Konoha. She's… having some issues and while I know the literature, I lack experience… plus I think even just the change of scene could help her. Do you think it would be possible?" The scent of detergent and strong coffee wafts with the air current from her and out the window, and he narrows his open eye at her a little and breathes in again.

"It might be. Are you eating? You can't just drink coffee, you know."

Sakura startles, then rolls her eyes. "That nose of yours! You're worse than Kiba. I had breakfast."

He glances at the clock. "It's past lunch time."

She readjusts the sheets in her arms defensively. "I'm sure Hinata-chan will call me when she has lunch ready. Look, if you're just trying to fend me off, then say so."

"Funnily enough, I'm not." He stares up at the ceiling. "You aren't my student anymore... but we are still comrades..."

He trails off. Sakura says, "Oh," clears her throat, and starts again. "But can you seriously think of a way to get Fuu back to Konoha? And... I will stop by the kitchen after I change the sheets."

Kakashi smiles, but the doorway is already empty.

 _To get all the way back to Konoha, with a living tracking beacon with us… no._

 _Split up? No. We're not enough for that either, and other than Bee, we don't know the terrain well enough._

 _Then… I suppose the least bad option is Kumogakure…_

—

"This place is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen! I can't wait to go flying here, ya know!" Fuu cranes her head out of the window of the ferry again.

Sakura sighs but smiles. The first half dozen times, she urged Fuu to remain seated and try to nap while little Tengai-chan was napping in his travel bassinet, but she gave up on that when she saw that absent spark returning in Fuu's eyes as she chattered about the air currents and the tantalizing little glimpses of cave entrances peeking out of sheer cliffs. _"Who knows what could be in there, Sakura-chan?! Why, almost anything eh?"_

"Oh! Look at that! Would ya look at that! Hey!" Fuu points unnecessarily. They have rounded a bend in the river, and a massive cliff, the top entirely shrouded in mist, suddenly looms in the far distance. "That's gotta be it, hey?"

Hinata has worn her pregnancy so far like an unflappably chic little black dress, always serene and secure in whatever mad environment and situation. Now however, she looks distinctly ill and uneasy as they sail closer and closer to the foot of the mountain, almost as if she's going to vomit.

"Do you need some anti-nausea treatment?" Sakura leans over to whisper discreetly.

Hinata merely bites her lip and shakes her head, trying a weak smile as Naruto nestles her into his side. "I'm just… nervous… and there's bad memories…"

Sakura opens her mouth to reassure Hinata that she need not worry at all about making a bad impression in Kumogakure, when suddenly her brain registers _bad memories_ and flashes back to the Chuunin Exams, where Naruto faced Neji and the whole sordid saga of Neji's father's death was dragged out like so much dirty laundry.

Cloud had tried to kidnap Hinata, and to keep peace with Cloud, Neji's father was killed and his corpse given over. They had tried to kidnap her when she was barely more than a toddler for her unsealed eyes, and now she was headed right into the village with those eyes, and with potentially another source of the Hyuuga dojutsu within her uterus. You didn't have to be Hinata-level anxious to feel uneasy about that!

"Yo say ho!" erupted Bee suddenly from behind them. He had been riding on the roof of the ferry, but now had apparently come back in for another rap session. "I'm telling you clear, ain't no need to fear! If you're my guest, forget the rest, you're with the best, so no distress, so, yo, destress! Fools, ya fools!"

"As the personal guests of the only living Lightning jinchuuriki," Kakashi adds dryly, not looking up from his smut, "and in light of the current international situation, I highly doubt any violent attempt will be made on the wife or child of the only living Fire jinchuuriki. The Raikage is intrepid, but not foolhardy."

A few thumps on the roof announce the arrival of some Kumo nin there to escort the foreigners, and four of them drop inside—a pretty, business-like woman with a clipboard; the lollipop-sucking ninja who had been part of the team delivering the message to Danzo; a smirking young man with a straight blond bob and heavy eyeliner; and a bald, heavily tattooed middle-aged man. The woman was wearing civilian-style business attire, while the other three were in typical Kumo uniform. "Good to have you back, sir," the woman first addressed Killer B, and then to the rest of them, "Welcome to Kumogakure. I am Mabui, Lord Raikage's assistant. My associates Omoi, Atsui, and Q will be assisting you to your temporary domiciles. I have your badges here, if you will please check that the information I have for you is correct."

Sakura ends up going with Fuu and the baby to an unexpectedly charming little one-room cabin-style house, escorted by the smirking blond, Atsui. Fuu, with baby Tengai tucked in a sling, wanders wide-eyed around the fully furnished little place, with its roaring fireplace behind a decorative gate, baby toys, a lovely crib, a fully stocked kitchen… "Wow! Who lives here, eh?"

"You do, now, as long as you'd like," Atsui says. "It's been empty for a few months since the last person who lived here died on a mission. It was a bit of a rush getting it cleaned up, but we know how to get things done around here!" He waves grandly to the left. "Granny M lives on that side—she's great with kids—and of course any time you want to drop the kid off at the nursery, the closest one is just down the road. The big building with the playground, you can't miss it. Open 24 hours. That's the one where me and my big sister grew up. It's got the best playground in the village. Hey, you met my sister, right?" He addresses Sakura. "Samui."

"How come you all got code names instead of real names?" demands Fuu before Sakura can respond.

"Huh? What do you mean? My name's a real name," Atsui says, looking rather offended.

"Atsui, Samui, Mabui, Omoi! M, Q, B, A! Those aren't names, those are adjectives and letters ya know!" Fuu snaps right back.

Atsui scoffs, looking somehow pleased to have his temper riled up. "That's just the way you foreigners think about it, right? We get our own names as we grow up based on who we really are. I used to have a letter name when I was a kid, but people always called me and my sister Atsui and Samui because we're so 'hot' and 'cold'. So what? It's still a real name. It's my name!"

"What, everyone in Cloud names their children after letters?" Sakura says.

"Well, rescues get letters. Of course, some just keep letters like Granny M or A-sama."

"Rescues?"

"Yeah, the kids we take in and make part of the family. Anyway, I'll be part of your bodyguard rotation, so you'll see me around. Oh, closest training platform is up there—" He points out the window at a peak. "—and the only inconvenient thing is the shopping, it's almost all down in the valley, but you should be stocked up for at least the week. We even got you rice! Now, I'll get you to the hospital, Sakura-san."

—

"Maa…" Kakashi smiles as his opponent pulls back his hood, revealing hair as white and fluffy with latent static as his own, "I should have expected the Raikage would send a kekkei genkai user to be my sparring opponent. Puts a damper on my jutsu plagiarism racket."

"Not at all," Darui says with a serene smile on his face, "I requested it. Besides-" he forms the seals to produce a few clones, and they say in stereo, "you wouldn't expend that much energy just for a friendly spar, right?"

"Against Black Lightning Darui? I may have to." He slides up his headband but keeps the eye closed for now.

"'Black Lightning Darui,' eh?" Darui pants as they lean against a wall after the spar. "Care for a drink?"

"Well, that's how we have you down in our bingo book," Kakashi admits, taking the bottle of water for a long pull.

"'Black Lightning Darui,'" Darui repeats. "That's not bad, not bad at all…"

"You didn't bring it out, though," Kakashi says, "so I guess the Black Lightning jutsu isn't Storm Release then..."

Darui chuckles. "Ah, ah… you know the Third Raikage taught only me that jutsu… what kind of ninja would I be if I let a foreigner steal it?"

Kakashi nods. "Well. It's not as if you even have to bring it out, when you have such formidable other jutsu…"

"Ah, don't flatter me, that kind of empty talk is way too dull."

Kakashi chuckles. "Eh? But doesn't the Raikage keep you around for your knack for being a little more… diplomatic than he is?"

Darui is looking past him. "Yo! Mama! Over here!" As he stands up, he says to Kakashi, "Ah, it's a little embarrassing, but my mother still brings me snacks if she knows I'm training…"

Kakashi stands and turns, but his smile freezes behind his mask at the look on Darui's mother's face.

She's holding a bento box, stock still, as if she's seen a ghost… no, it's that _recognition_ that he's seen so many times before in foreign ninja, that false recognition, mistaking him for his father. But usually that expression fades into another as they realize who he actually is (except for Chiyo-sama and her attack). But Darui's mother doesn't move even the slightest muscle of her face.

"Yes, Mama," Darui says, and when Kakashi glances at him, he looks guilty. "I should have said, I'm fighting with our guest from Konoha, Hatake Kakashi."

"Indeed…" She forces it out. "I only brought enough for one…"

"Ah, don't worry," Kakashi says, "I need to be going, anyway…"

"So soon?" Darui says, then Kakashi observes a puzzling succession of expressions between Darui and his mother. The young man scratches at his hair. "Uh, I was hoping to treat you to my favourite place…"

"Maybe another time; I promised my student to meet with him." _Roughly an hour ago… so Naruto will be pleased at my punctuality…_

He muses again over Darui's strange attachment to him as he heads for Naruto's temporary abode.

"Kakashi-sensei, you're _late_!" Naruto's index finger waggles at him aggressively. "But! You're not that late! So something's _up!_ Spill it!"

Kakashi blinks, Naruto's dead-accurate and unexpected demand hitting him off-balance since he was already confused. So instead of natter about lost cats and helping carry groceries, he says, "Ah, I was sparring with Darui, but it was a little awkward."

"Awkward? That guy?"

"Ah, I don't know." Kakashi tries to laugh it off. "He seems to want to spend time with me, I'm not sure why."

Naruto tilts his head. "Kaka-sensei, ya know it's ok for people to like you, right?"

Naruto's head tilt is all Kushina, but the blue eyes, those, those are Minato-sensei…

 _"But sensei," a seven year old boy who knew everything said. "According to Rule 94, excessive camaraderie even within one's team is to be avoided."_

 _"Just enjoy the sweets, Kakashi-kun," The young teacher laughed. "I know Rin-chan worked hard on them. Look at Obito-kun, he's going to give himself a stomach ache with how he's gorging himself, so they must be good."_

 _"You can have them sensei; I don't know why she gave them to me…"_

 _"But sensei," a fourteen year old boy who knew nothing said. "How do I get him to leave me alone? I think there's something wrong with him. He keeps acting like… like he's my friend."_

 _"Why don't you think Guy just wants to be your friend, Kakashi?" The Fourth Hokage looked at his student's dead eyes with compassion and concern._

 _"I can't. I just… I can't…"_

"Hey, sensei? Do you know?"

"Your father… tried to tell me that kind of thing before…" Kakashi covers up this uncharacteristic openness with an embarrassed laugh.

Naruto looks thrilled. "What, really?! So, am I like him, am I like him? That's really great dattebayo…"

"You are a lot like him, Naruto. You always reminded me more of your mother, but the older you get the more I see your father in you. Minato-sensei…" Kakashi forces the uncomfortably emotional words out. "He was a great Hokage, and would have been a great father… and I think you will do both even better, Naruto."

"Wow…" Naruto's lip wibbles, and he grabs onto Kakashi with both arms and squeezes the breath out of him. "That's the best compliment I've ever gotten dattebayo!"

"N-naruto-kun?" Hinata appears at the door. "Shouldn't you bring Kakashi-sensei inside?"

"Oh! Yeah! Sorry!" Naruto releases Kakashi, and backs up awkwardly. "Still not used to this whole 'having guests' thing…"

As Kakashi follows Naruto in, he can only think to himself, _I wasted your advice the first time, Minato-sensei… but I'll try not to waste your son's..._

"There's something I need to tell you," Kakashi says, "and I suppose it can't wait, even though we'll have to assume we'll be overheard. On the way from Konoha to Turtle Island, Madara warped me to another dimension, where I fought Sasuke. He now has full control over his brother's Susano'o, which can reflect any ninjutsu with a mirror, and wield a sword that can seal anyone it touches for eternity."

Hinata squeaks, then looks mortified. Naruto's initial shock at the mention of Sasuke's name gets put on hold as he pats his mate reassuringly, then he looks thoughtful. "Yeah… I suppose I should have guessed -ttebayo…"

"He's still determined to sever all his bonds," Kakashi continues, "which means Team 7 for sure… I'm not sure who else… and I think after he eliminates us, only then will he attempt to destroy Konoha."

"Reflects all ninjutsu… and close range attacks won't work either… now that's gonna be a hell of a fight dattebayo!"

—

After only a few days in Kumo, the order comes from Tsunade-shishou: Sakura needs to go back to Shikkotsu Forest to train further. The thought of going back to hard, fruitless work alone with Katsuyu-sama puts a slump in her step, and when she goes to tell Naruto, he notices immediately.

"But Sakura-chan," he grouses, dragging his spoon reluctantly through a bowl of yak and barley soup, "why don't you just tell Tsunade-baa-chan you're needed here with Hinata? Then you don't have to be sad -ttebayo."

Sakura smiles despite herself. "It's not that, Naruto. I'm just… worried that no matter how hard I work on it, I may not be capable of ever developing sage mode in a way that I can actually use."

"Eh? But Sakura-chan! That's dumb, and you're not dumb!" He quickly chews a mouthful of yak meat and swallows before he can taste it much. "I mean, granny says you already got her beat by three years, forming the seal, and she started with bigger chakra reserves than you, because she's got Uzumaki in her like me. So why would you think you can't figure it out?"

"The only way I can harvest the sage energy is by being asleep," she says, "and I'm not like you, I don't have the chakra to have clones make the energy for me, even if I could somehow fall asleep on command in battle…"

Naruto scratches his head. "You can't fuse with Katsuyu like Pervy Sage did?"

"I assume Katsuyu-sama would have said something if it was possible…"

"You just gotta keep looking for inspiration dattebayo! You know, for me, it's always something weird that does it… maybe because my brain is a little weird…" The ceramic spoon handle clinks against the edge of the bowl as he fidgets with it. "Your brain ain't so weird, so maybe that's why you haven't figured it out yet."

"Naruto, that makes no sense at all."

"Yeah, I agree, I would have thought, since your head is kinda shaped weird, that your brain would be a bit weird, but it's not, it works really well!"

Only the prospect of international scandal prevents Sakura from punting Naruto through the cafe wall.

Naruto, seeing the storm clouds in her eyes, hastens to add, "N-n-n-not that it's a bad weird! I mean, it's a weird I like! I've always liked your big forehead! I-i-i-it's charming! Because you have all that _smart_ behind it! And the seal makes it even prettier and there's even _more_ behind it now dattebayo!"

His terrified protest is nonetheless so sincere in its admiration of her that Sakura can't help but be flattered out of her anger, blushing a bit and dropping her eyes. When she looks back up, Naruto has a massive grin on his face as he points at her seal.

"But that's it!" Naruto crows. "Ya just gotta put sage energy in the seal too!"

Sakura stares at him. _It can't be that simple?_

"See? _See?!_ It just takes a weird brain to fix things, dattebayo! That's why ya gotta keep me around Sakura-chan!"

—

"Well, what do you think?" Tsunade says quietly, barely audible under the drone of the auditory masking jutsu. "And more importantly, where the hell do we go from here?"

The text on the self-erasing report is already fading, but his Sharingan recorded it, and Kakashi could have recalled its explosive conclusion regardless: after a long search, the DNA of the eyes taken from "Tobi's" corpse were matched to Uchiha Kagami, student of the second Hokage and close friend of Shimura Danzo and Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Uchiha Kagami, like all Uchiha under the reign of the Third, did not typically go on missions outside the village, but had been granted special dispensation to go on a diplomatic mission with a small team, including… Shimura Danzo. They were ambushed and only Danzo, of the entire team, escaped… with the "injuries" that required him to start wearing those bandages.

Was Kagami the first Uchiha that Danzo stole eyes from?

But if so, how did those eyes end up inside a fake Madara?

Kakashi rubs his temple. "I think we need to investigate more about Danzo's relationship with Kagami. I believe many former Root members have become more amenable to working with the village… perhaps if we ask now, there may be some records…?"

"I'm ahead of you there." Tsunade's hand twitches as if it really wants to reach for the bottle of sake instead of the file drawer, but she forces it to the responsible place and pulls out a scroll. With a number of hand seals, the seemingly innocent single scroll becomes a dozen or so. "Nara Yasuyoshi was apparently his record keeper, and it seems like he's finally decided that throwing in with me is the winning move. Took me a damn long time to actually get him to act, though. My God, even a brainwashed Nara is a lazy ass."

Kakashi hesitantly selects a scroll, not sure he wants to read what's in it. "Have you read through these already, Hokage-sama?"

Tsunade is pouring sake now. "God, no. But at least I've got a good reason. They can only be read with a Sharingan."

Kakashi reads through one scroll after another. Rather than official records, they are more like notes from Danzo to himself; half reminders, half diary.

 _Fugaku's acute fear of losing his heir makes him reckless and highly exploitable…_

 _…the best Uchiha I ever met, and therefore the only one whose genetic material is worth preserving. Yet even he does not perceive the necessity of my organization… at first I saw hatred in his eyes, but after Fugaku's promise to give me the child, they are cold and dull. Has he submitted, or is he plotting something? I will not leave things to chance…_

 _…it is done, but I am glad that I did not have to kill my friend with my own hand. I am weak to be so grieved. I should only be grieved at not having recovered his eyes…_

 _The baby was born today, and the mother accepted easily enough that it died. Better luck than I had imagined; he is an omega. He barely cried when I applied the seal. The codename is Nobuyoshi. I will shape him well…_

 _Rearing up a baby like this is very annoying. Failure to thrive is a real risk, but I cannot have the boy getting attached. Below are the figures of the frequency of switching of nursemaids, if the experiment should fail…_

 _…avoiding suspicion that Nobuyoshi is an Uchiha has been difficult. He lacks Kagami's curls and he is pale like Azusa, but his face shape is otherwise just like his father. Especially his eyes…_

 _I am carefully keeping Nobuyoshi from studying any conventional ninjutsu and am encouraging him to develop an ink based jutsu. His ability to mimic images so precisely and rapidly speaks well for the future capabilities of his eyes…_

 _Hiruzen's milquetoast, incoherent ideas about peace will not allow him to see the truth about the Uchiha. Pah! The only real issue is losing the Sharingan, but we need not fear that, as long as we maintain at least one breeding specimen…_

 _I have changed Nobuyoshi's code name to Sumito and changed his care team. Now that he is toilet trained, his carers should be changed no less frequently than every six months…_

 _…I have been hasty. How can I trigger the development of a doujutsu linked to emotional turmoil in a boy who has been carefully reared to be properly devoid of it? This is the fatal flaw of the Uchiha…_

 _…it was killing Shisui that gave Itachi the Mangekyou. I must arrange for Sumito to have a "brother" figure… Shin, perhaps? Or Fu? But Shin is more expendable…_

 _I gave Sumito the new codename Ruiji today as I assigned him to live and train with Shin. The two latched onto each other immediately, far faster than I wanted, really… the rest of the Foundation needs closer watching if they form bonds like this so fast…_

 _Shin is ill. I must have Ruiji and Shin battle each other as soon as possible, but Ruiji has not awakened his Sharingan at all yet. If he doesn't awaken it through this battle…_

 _He awakened only the regular Sharingan, perhaps because Shin somehow managed to kill himself. I was concerned about performing the extraction without_ his _services, but it went alright for both parties. Shin's eyes are functioning perfectly in Ruiji's head, and I now have two additional chances at Izanagi, if nothing else. But unless it is necessary I will not yet implant them. Perhaps in a few years I will be able to try again to awaken them as Mangekyou…_

 _Ruiji's new file name is Sai. Further reports to follow when I have the time. Success is near._

That was the last scroll.

"Danzo took a child from the Uchiha for Root," Kakashi says numbly, surprised most of all at how surprised he is. "He took Kagami's second son. The boy now known as Sai. He set the boy up to obtain a fraternal bond with another Root agent that he intended Sai to kill to unlock the Sharingan. The other boy killed himself, but Sai unlocked the Sharingan anyway. Danzo took the eyes and gave Sai the ordinary eyes of the other boy."

"And what did Danzo do with Sai's Sharingan?"

"He only wrote down that he intended to wait to implant them. But that was years ago."

Tsunade looks Kakashi directly in the eyes, despite the swirling tomoe of his open sharingan. "Did Danzo kill Kagami and take his eyes?"

"The scrolls imply not, Hokage-sama. They make it sound as if Danzo had some plan, but that circumstances resulted in Kagami dying from some other cause, and moreover, that Danzo could not recover his eyes."

Tsunade grumbles wordlessly, but Kakashi understands her meaning perfectly: then who _did_ take Kagami's eyes, and how did they end up in the control of Akatsuki?

"If the eyes are Kagami's, and Sai is Kagami's son," Kakashi says slowly, still trying to parse out all these revelations for himself, "then Sai is the ideal recipient of them."

"Does the boy even _know_ he's an Uchiha?!"

As it turned out, he did.

"Well. You never asked. And it was something of a secret, before. And rather shameful. Traitors." Sai explains when summoned, his appeasing smile firmly affixed to his face. "That was why Danzo told me it would have to wait until he was firmly in control of Konoha for me to be able to have the eyes back."

A vein pulses in the Hokage's neck. "Sai. Do you have any _other_ secrets, shameful or otherwise, about this village and its clans?"

Sai meditates a moment on the question. "No, Hokage-sama."

"Do you know what Danzo did with your original eyes?"

"No, Hokage-sama."

"Very well. Would you be willing to receive your father's eyes, and use them for Konoha?"

"My father's…" Sai is thrown. His smiling mask cracks. "My father's… eyes? You have… who was he?"

"He was a man named Uchiha Kagami," Tsunade answers, watching Sai carefully. "The facts are not clear, but he apparently died in action and his eyes were stolen by enemies. The eyes made their way somehow into the hands of Akatsuki, and now have made their way back to us. If you take the eyes, which are Mangekyou Sharingan, and they do turn out to be your father's, there's a strong possibility you could unlock the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, which would make you an invaluable asset to us against Madara. Kakashi would train you."

"Kakashi-sensei would train me? Then I accept." Sai says immediately.

Kakashi wonders, not for the first time, why people keep desiring to be in his company.

—

A young woman stands on a hill overlooking Konoha, her hometown. It's been over a year.

The sakura petals that are her namesake blow from a gust of early spring air, past the pink strands of her hair and away, towards the Hokage Rock. That monument looks the same, but the village has changed immensely. All construction seems finished. Young trees line the streets. The usual Leaf taste for brightly coloured roofs has been indulged in more heavily than ever. A few shinobi are visible as dark, rapidly moving dots across them.

She could have just had Katsuyu-sama reverse summon her directly into Konoha, of course—right into the Hokage office, even—but she chose instead to go to a nearby village, where she could get some new clothes to replace the patched up ones she had been training in and get a deep clean in the baths. It's odd to be wearing an outfit without the circular Haruno crest on it. Maybe she can get it stitched onto the high collar, or on the hem of the utility apron she wears like a wrap skirt over her shorts… or across the back of the cherry red haori she's wearing to keep off the chill, since she's already planning to take it to a shinobi tailor in Konoha to have hidden compartments added to the interior of the wide sleeves.

"Sakura-chaaaaaaan!" roars Naruto, coming out of seemingly nowhere and grabbing her in a bearhug that lifts her off the ground.

"Oof! Naruto!" Sakura gasps, and takes another deeper breath as he releases her with a thump. "How'd you even know I was here?"

Naruto makes his big blue eyes go even wider by stretching them with his fingers. "Hinata's eyes of course! She was looking for something else, but she just happened to be looking this way and thought she saw you… and wow! It is you, dattebayo! Plus, wow…" He leans forward. "You really look like Baa-chan's student now in that jacket. Not to mention your forehead is even more beautiful! And hey, hey! We match too!" He tugs at his own deep red jacket with its black flame trim.

Sakura blushes and touches the seal, modified by its combination of natural and sage chakra into a small abstract floral shape. "Thanks, Naruto."

"We've gotta duel! Sage vs sage dattebayo!" He makes the hand seals and two clones pop into existence and enter lotus position.

"Naruto… I _just_ got here."

"Oh." The clones poof away. "Well! But soon! Ramen now, Sakura-chan! Or, ooh! You have to meet Tampopo-chan! Ooh! Or ramen _and_ Tampopo-chan! Yeah, that's it! Follow me!"

Sakura sighs and shakes her head as she dashes after Naruto. _Suggest ramen before your daughter… you are impossible, Naruto._

Tsunade-shishou's reaction to her forehead is not what she expected. "My God, Sakura… sage mode? But doesn't it…" She lowers her voice to a horrified whisper. "Doesn't it make you hideous?"

"Well… I don't know… there's not exactly a lot of mirrors in Shikkotsu Forest, shishou."

Tsunade looks nonplussed. "You don't carry a mirror?"

"No…?"

Tsunade pours herself another drink. "Youth is wasted on the young."

The word "youth" of course brings someone to mind. "Ah, shishou? Lee-san was asking if I would assist him in sparring while he opens up some of the gates… is that alright with you? The idea is that I can observe the damage as it occurs and so I can mitigate it better if he ever is using it in a battle situation… what do you think?"

Tsunade nods. "It's not without risk, but I think the benefit could pay off. It will be good for you to get some combat experience with the seal, as well, although of course you'll need to be sparing with it. I also heard…" She pauses to smile sneakily and drink from the cup. "…that you agreed to let young Lee buy you a curry?"

Sakura blushes pink as her hair, and her master laughs.

"Maybe you're not wasting your youth after all," she says and waves her dismissal.

—

"Have you seen the Hag's new sage mode in action yet?"

Kakashi pauses in the action of sharpening a kunai to process what Sai is talking about. Up until now they had been discussing whether they should take the current intelligence back to Konoha and get a larger team or press on following Nozomi's trail into Earth territory.

 _Oh. Right. Sakura. He calls Sakura ugly…_

"I've only seen her in passing since she came back," he says, putting the kunai down and moving to the next.

"I observed a spar between her and Dickless," Sai says, sketching away. "It was magnificent, from an artistic perspective. He all red-orange-yellow, she all green-blue-purple. Unfortunately, their common habit of babbling somewhat spoiled the sublimity of the effect. I thought of saying as much, but decided to remain silent."

"You're learning," Kakashi chuckled, resealing his weapons.

"Do you suppose, if a snake sage existed, it might have a white and black schema, Pervy Hedgehog?"

"Maybe not learning," Kakashi mutters, cursing his decision to tell Sai that there was no need to call him sensei.

"I suppose it is pointless to speculate," Sai says, putting his brush away. "Back to the subject of our plans. If we stay a few more days to allow my eyes to recuperate, I think I can place a Kotoamatsukami genjutsu on the owner of that outfitter, to convince him to become a Konoha informant. Anyone travelling from here into Earth will want to stop there for gear, and vice versa. Then when we gather a team, we'll have better intel about what we're dealing with."

"Get some rest now then." Kakashi stands up, glancing down at Sai's drawing—Naruto in Sage Mode he of course recognized, which meant that the other combatant must be Sakura. He would not have recognized her. Sai drew stripes coiled not only all over her form but extending out around her like tendrils; the figure seemed to have no eyes at all.

"It doesn't really do it justice… maybe I should start working with colour…" Sai yawns.

"I'll go down and pay for a few more days then. Will you want dinner in your room?"

Sai nods. "I might nap."

"Not a bad idea. I might do the same."

—

"You know, today is my birthday, Lee."

"Sakura!" Lee is in extremis. "I was unaware! How could I be unaware of my beloved's birthday! Forgive me! I have no present prepared…!"

"Lee, it's really, genuinely, _totally_ fine," Sakura says hastily. "I was mostly asking if you wanted to go get cake with me…?"

"No!" Lee says vehemently. "I must give you something!"

"You don't need—"

"Other than my heart, of course, which I already gave to you years ago—"

"You can, um… pay for the cake?"

Lee scorns such a paltry suggestion. "Pah! Such a meager gesture is unworthy of the depths—nay, the heights!—of my passion! In fact, no physical object could be sufficient! Indeed, how could they be, when I so admire how unworldly you are!"

Sakura's extremely worldly desire for cake rumbles in her stomach. "Well, how about you think about it _while_ we eat the cake?"

Lee nods in satisfaction at Sakura's excellent sense. "Of course! Guy-sensei told me once that for a short-term need for energy, a little hit of sugar can do just the trick sometimes!"

Sakura smiles. "Great, then let's go to Shinshindo."

Lee gallantly holds out his hand, and Sakura takes it. He has a nice grip, not too tight but nonetheless secure.

She likes the way he holds her hand.

He hastens to open the door and adjust her chair when they arrive.

She likes his old-fashioned courtesy, the way he emphasizes her femininity as if it is in itself an honour.

 _"Ugh. Are you sure she's a girl? She's flat as a board and the way she fights… she's more brutish than a man!"_

 _"Shh, she's got a lot of friends in this hospital…"_

And then there's the other side:

 _"She_ cried _when the mission was over. Why do they even let women pretend to be ninja."_

 _"Hey, be fair, she saved everyone, didn't she?"_

 _"Yeah, but she was crying because she killed an enemy!"_

 _"Wasn't the enemy very young?"_

 _"Doesn't matter, there's no room for crying among shinobi!"_

There was never the slightest breath of condemnation from Lee towards Sakura for being too strong or too weak, too womanly or not womanly enough. He found her magnificent in every detail, even more so than Naruto had. It was overwhelming, but she'd be lying to say it wasn't flattering, especially now that she was actually trying to give him a chance.

The shadow of Sasuke in her mind was infrequent but painful when it did appear. Did she still love him? Yes. But what kind of love was it? What kind of love had it ever really been?

"Your finest cake please!" Lee blurts out the moment the waitress opens her mouth to greet them. "This vision of spring celebrates the most youthful day of the year today!"

When the waitress just stares at him, mouth slightly ajar, he continues, "Yosh! Of course her birthday!"

"Oh, happy birthday, Sakura-sensei," says the waitress brightly. "Do you like fruit… chocolate…?"

Sakura feels a bit bad that she doesn't recognize the waitress, who apparently knows her from some kind of medical capacity since she's addressing her as _sensei_ or doctor. "I like both… and red bean… cream is good… I like all kinds of sweets really..."

"How about a chocolate sponge with strawberries and whipped cream?"

"That sounds perfect!"

"I will pay the bill! Because it is a date!" Lee adds proudly.

The waitress goes over to the pastry case, and Lee takes both of Sakura's hands in his.

"Sakura," he says, stops, licks his lips, tries again. "Oh most lovely and most dear Sakura! I have thought of a birthday gift for you. Do you not think this would be a most youthful occasion to have… our first kiss?"

Her first kiss.

With Lee.

The hands holding onto hers for dear life are getting sweaty, and Sakura looks into Lee's big eyes, so nervous but so brave.

 _Well… I said I was going to give it a chance…_

She closes her eyes and leans forwards slightly. After a few moments, Lee's nose slides along hers as his lips awkwardly touch her mouth for approximately a tenth of a second.

Sakura opens her eyes. Lee's brow is furrowed in concentration.

"That was not quite right," he declares. "I will try again!"

This time she keeps her eyes open as Lee leans back across the table and firmly pecks her mouth.

"Uh… Lee…"

"Do not worry Sakura! I can see that I will need to train on this."

The cake arrives, and Sakura blushes at the waitress's friendly but smug look as she sets the plates in front of them, with an entire cake pre-sliced and with a to-go box next to it ready to carry the rest away.

 _Oh boy… that was probably less romantic than when Naruto kissed Sasuke…_

"Lee… I'm not sure that training is the answer for this."

For the first time, Lee gives her an absolutely incredulous look, bordering on disgust. "What do you mean, Sakura? Training is the answer to everything!"

"I think romance is a little different… I don't think it's supposed to be a place to train… not that we don't work hard in love, but I think… the attraction is supposed to be the easy part… and… it seems like maybe, Lee, you're not feeling it either?"

Lee sighs. "I do not understand! Because I most truly admire you!"

"I really admire you too, Lee," Sakura smiles sincerely. "Maybe we're just meant to be friends? Like me and Naruto…"

Suddenly Lee's big eyebrows go up and up as his entire face lights up with energy. "No! That's it, Sakura! We _are_ meant to be, Sakura, but not friends, no, far more than friends! Do you not see it?"

"...no?"

He thrusts a strawberry on a fork into the sky. "Yosh! We are _meant to be Eternal Rivals!_ "

 _Eternal Rivals?_

"I shall prove it to you by winning our first challenge!" Lee crows. "I shall eat more than half of this cake! Right here and now!"

Sakura grabs her fork. "You're on!"

(Lee wins, but also horks under the table afterward, so Sakura declares it a tie. They are banned for six months from Shinshindo.)

—

When Kakashi and Sai arrive at the rugged outpost to genjutsu its owner into being an informant, they're surprised to receive an enthusiastic welcome from a wizened old woman sitting outside.

"Mizuochi-san! Thank heaven! We've all been so worried about you!" she calls to Sai, who stops and regards her warily. "Kenta! Mizuochi-san's back at last!"

The door swings open, and the proprietor bursts out, but his excited face flags when he sees the two of them. "Mother, that's not Mizuochi-san. That's merely the two gentlemen who were here last week."

"I know Mizuochi-san when I see him!" The old woman rises unsteadily to her feet and hobbles out with her cane, then peers at Sai from about a foot away. "Oh."

"I'm sorry, gentlemen," the man beckons them into his shop, and Sai sidles around the woman as if she's a threat. "There's a regular customer of ours we haven't seen for some time, and with the danger in the area lately we've been getting concerned." He lowers his voice. "My mother's sight is not what it used to be."

"Anyone could have made that mistake!" The old woman barks at their backs as they follow the boss into the shop. "There's nothing wrong with my hearing _or_ my sight! That young man looks just like Mizuochi-san!"

The door shuts, and the owner coughs.

"Well, never mind, never mind," Kakashi says brightly to clear the embarrassment. "My partner has a business proposition for you, sir, while I replenish our supplies from your excellent assortment."

From behind Sai's dark glasses, the tomoe of his Sharingan are spinning.

—

"I received your summons, Hokage-sa—"

"What's up, granny?!" Naruto demands from the windowsill, interrupting Sakura's formal greeting from the actual door. He brightens as he looks into the room. "Oh! Sakura-chan! Kaka-sensei!" A beat. "And you guys."

Kakashi snickers, Yamato-taichou looks offended, and Sai shows no reaction. Sakura closes the door behind her and joins the others in a line as Naruto hops inside and does likewise.

"I've just received a report from Kakashi and Sai," Tsunade-shishou says. "They've found a promising lead on the Nozomi organization and the masked man calling himself Madara."

"Sasuke?" Naruto asks hopefully, and Sakura's stomach lurches painfully, then again when she realizes that his name still can do that to her.

"Not directly. However, it is possible that he is involved. Regardless, these are very dangerous people, and this mission is S-rank. That's why I feel that it's time for the full Team Kakashi to take a mission."

Yamato-taichou and Naruto both look delighted. Sakura's face tries to emulate the neutral expressions of Sai and Kakashi, but she doesn't know whether she's succeeding. With her perfect chakra control, she keeps her heart rate and breathing even.

The mission parameters are to rendezvous with the informant, and if his intelligence continues to suggest Kakashi's previous information is correct, for Team Kakashi to cross the border into the Land of Earth in pursuit of evidence of collaboration between Nozomi and Iwa-nin. Such evidence would be absolutely vital in garnering support for the anti-Nozomi alliance from suspicious countries and villages like Mist. What's more, Konoha needs to know whether Nozomi is working with corrupt Iwa-nin or whether the actual Iwa establishment has thrown in with Madara.

"Kakashi leading," Tsunade concludes, "Yamato, second in command. Third, Sakura. Fourth Sai. In any case where you are isolated, Naruto, you are to return to Konoha _immediately._ "

"What?!" Naruto sputters. "Come on, granny! Don't you trust me to be a leader?! You're putting even _Sai_ above me? I'm gonna be the Hokage dattebayo!"

"Certainly," Tsunade-shishou barks back. "But you have yet to demonstrate the slightest self-control on any mission involving your former teammate. You should be kissing my feet I'm sending you at all, brat, after the fiasco last time!"

Naruto huffs, but then sighs. "Yeah. Alright, you're right, dattebayo."

Sakura blinks in surprise. This is the first time since she came back that she's seen Naruto in an official capacity, and his acceptance of the Hokage's rebuke is unexpectedly mature.

"Meet at the gate at 18:00," Tsunade-sama says. "Kakashi, you are to be at the gate at 15:00. Dismissed."

The rest of them laugh, even Sai, as Kakashi indifferently pulls out a copy of _Icha Icha_ and they all scatter.

—

"Maa, Sakura, you have to be 18 to buy that." _She's not 18 yet, is she? Time is getting away from me._

Sakura turns a page in _Icha Icha Paradise._ "I didn't buy it. Naruto lent it to me." She puts the bookmark in, flips back to the inside cover, and briefly shows the personalization from Jiraiya to his godson. She reopens it back to her place. "I just wanted to know if it's really true that it's inspired by Tsunade-shishou. What do you think, Kakashi?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"It's kind of… creepily romantic." She tilts her head, and he knows exactly what illustration she's looking at. "Also, I am eighteen."

"Since when?!"

"Since last week. We're all eighteen now. I was the youngest in our year." She glances over at Naruto, who is demonstrating to Sai that you can light a fart on fire, and sighs. "Chronologically the youngest, at least. I still can't believe that Naruto is a dad. Hinata-chan is a saint. Two babies to take care of."

"Sakura-chan! I heard that!"

Kakashi sits down next to her, pulls out his own copy of _Icha Icha Paradise_ , and opens his copy to the same place. A few peaceful minutes pass, then Sakura begins to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Kakashi says, defensive of his beloved books.

"'Tongues fighting for dominance,'" she laughs. "What a cliche."

"I believe the word you are looking for is _classic._ "

"It's a ridiculous image. I can't help picturing two tongues having a sparring match and casting tongue-jutsu."

Yamato snickers from across the fire, and then coughs when Kakashi gives him an unamused eye narrow. "It's an accurate depiction of the kind of passionate, unyielding kiss that Junko is sharing with the mysterious stranger—"

"You mean Tadao?"

"—the _mysterious stranger_ ," he continues, as if she hasn't interrupted, "who may or may not be Tadao—"

"Oh, come on. It's definitely going to be Tadao. Be real, Kakashi. This is porn, not great literature."

"Excuse me, it is _erotica._ "

"That's just a fancy word for porn."

"Absolutely not," he insists heatedly. "They are different."

"Alright, what's the difference?"

"Porn is for arousal and arousal only. There's no interest in porn beyond that. There's no point to looking at it except to masturbate. Erotica, on the other hand, _can_ be great literature. It just chooses to chiefly explore romantic and sexual areas of the human experience, to attempt to capture the great pleasures, and sometimes the agonies, of them, and allow the reader to experience them." He pauses a moment. "Masturbation is still usually possible, I admit."

Sakura gives him a measuring look. "That's… an unexpectedly serious answer, sensei."

" _Icha Icha_ is nothing to joke about," he answers gravely.

"I think you're overrating Ero-Sennin's writing dattebayo!" Naruto sits by the fire with a loud exhalation, and Sai silently joins them on the other side.

Kakashi gives Naruto a happy eye crinkle, then turns the page. "Ah, Naruto, I'm afraid even after all the time you spent with Jiraiya-sama, you never looked underneath the underneath."


	18. Chapter 18

"Wait right here and don't wander off, bitch," Kakashi snaps at Sakura.

Ordinarily, anyone who dared to use that kind of tone with her would get their jaw rearranged or worse, but in her current disguise she giggles, picks at the whale tail of her thong, and says, "Oh, but daddy, I'll get so bored!"

"I didn't bring you along for conversation," Kakashi sneers. All eyes around are riveted on the trashy drama as Sai slips inside to meet up with the contact. "If you want to stay with me, do what I say without any of this sassy bullshit. Your mouth is only good for one thing. Otherwise keep it shut. Say yes sir."

Sakura exaggeratedly fans herself. "Yes sir."

"Good girl. I won't be long."

Everyone on the street is whispering as he leaves. Sakura tosses her black hair defiantly, making a big show about restlessly looking around. As a cover story, it may be degrading, but it's also effective. She can poke around at will and people will stare at her doing it yet think nothing more than that she's a bored and curious bimbo. Meanwhile, she's sure to be the only thing that people gossip about after, ignoring the more mundane subject of Sai and his unusually long private interview with the storekeeper.

She's not expecting her snooping to reveal a thing, so when she peers into a window around a corner and sees a bloodied and bruised man with empty eye sockets lying motionless in a bed, her little strangled gasp isn't forced. In fact, she has to turn the gasp into a scream to keep her cover personality consistent. The man in the bed turns his head a little, which she observes, but she still screams, "He's dead! He's dead! Help, help, there are dead people here!"

She nearly runs into Kakashi as she darts into the store, and clings to him in a swoon. He grabs her wrists and pulls her away.

"You dumb bitch," he says. "What did you get into now?"

"Now just one minute!" The old woman at the counter raps her fan at them. "I don't approve of that kind of talk, no matter how much money you spend here!"

Kakashi grinds his teeth behind the surgical mask. "I apologize. She gets hysterical over nothing."

"I am not hysterical!" Sakura says as shrilly as possible, while her foot taps out _the truth_ code on the floor. "There was a man, a horrid beaten up man with no eyes on a bed!" Her foot taps _a lie_ as she adds, "I think he's dead!"

"Well anyone would be afraid of Mizuochi looking like that, the poor lamb that he is," the woman scolds Kakashi. "You have more patience with her, sir!" To Sakura, she says, "He's only a customer of ours that got set upon by bandits. These past few years the bandits have gotten bold as brass on the roads, though they don't yet come into Fudouiwa. Another customer happened across him the other day and brought him here-the poor thing! I don't know if he'll survive, but at least he'll die clean in a good bed, with some water to drink, instead of alone in the dirt."

Kakashi was avoiding looking at her, and she knew why. It went against everything in her for her to ignore a dying patient that she could save. Ordinary wounds from ordinary bandits would be trivial for her to heal. But that was Sakura, the legendary medic nin, not Miya, an unremarkable mistress to a smuggler.

"I may have some… medicine that could help," Kakashi says at last. "At least make the end more peaceful, get it? For a single dose, no charge."

The old woman nods sadly. "I think that might be kindest."

"I'm coming with you!" Sakura shrieks. "I'm not staying out where there are bandits!"

Kakashi rolls his visible eye, but his pat to her arm is reassuring as they follow the woman to the residential part of the building. He may not have wanted to risk their cover, but he did decide to try to give her a chance to heal the victim. That means a lot to her.

"I'll fluff his pillow and make him more comfortable," Sakura announces, thrusting her hands beneath his pillow where the glow of green chakra won't be visible as she scans his head for injuries. "How savage that they tore out his-"

The near-dead man in the bed grabs her wrists with a speed that shouldn't be possible for a man in his condition. That _wouldn't_ be possible for a civilian man. "Who are you?" he rasps.

"Don't be frightened, Mizuochi-san! It's only the young lady of a long-time customer of ours, just trying to make you a little more comfortable," the old woman soothes.

The grip on her wrists doesn't lessen. The empty eye sockets turned towards her are mildly freaking her out because she's got this irrational feeling like he _sees_ her.

"Mizuochi," Kakashi says, and she can hear the frown in his voice, see the gears turning in the slight turn of his head. " _Mizu_ as in water?"

"And what is your name?" challenged the man, still not letting go of Sakura's wrists.

"My name is Souzu," Kakashi says. "The first character is _to accompany_ , the second character is also _water._ " Together, the two characters mean a kind of pipe-shaped bamboo fountain that slowly fills and empties with a loud clack to scare away animals in a traditional Land of Fire garden.

"Souzu… really… you know, a _souzu_ … is almost like a scarecrow, isn't it?"

 _Kakashi_ means scarecrow. Sakura glances back and forth between the men.

The dark-haired man in the bed continues, "A scarecrow is useful to a farmer… like a dog…"

"A dog is more useful than an otter," Kakashi answers.

The man in the bed laughs weakly. "I thought it was you. I'm not surprised it's you."

"I can't at all say the same," Kakashi replies, and turns to the old woman. "It turns out we knew each other a long time ago. Would it be alright if we had some privacy to reminisce?"

"Oh yes, of course! How fortunate and mysterious are the ways of fate! You, here to accompany your old friend as he leaves this world..!" The old woman pulls a handkerchief from the sleeve of her kimono and daubs at her eyes. "You come with me young lady, and let's let these gentlemen have their talk."

The man releases Sakura's wrists, and after a tiny nod from Kakashi, Sakura follows the woman out, although Sakura is dying to know what the hell is going on here.

She's left to cool her heels just outside the door of the outfitter, orbited by a number of still very fascinated yokels, two of whom are talking loudly enough that even if she was a civilian she might have overheard.

"Man! Fucking alphas have all the goddamn luck in the world. Wish I could push a bitch around like that and not have to worry about a damn thing."

"You said it, man. Her tits ain't much, but wouldn't you like to grab onto an ass like that while you're pounding it? Although maybe it's not worth it. He's sick of hearing her talk, that's for sure."

Sakura bites her tongue and efficiently checks the dilation of her facial capillaries to prevent a blush. She orders the veins in her forehead and neck not to throb with anger. It's all easily within her control, and that gives her something to focus on.

 _Usually no one suspects I'm an omega… but the second I act like this for a mission… shannaro!_

The man in the bed forms the old-fashioned hand seals for a silencing jutsu: boar, hare, rat, snake, boar.

"We don't usually use that one anymore," Kakashi says, "but it should be more than sufficient for now. The perimeter is being surveilled by one of the best."

"That's good to know," the man says. "The woman?"

"A Konoha kunoichi," Kakashi says. "How much do you know of what's going on, Shisui?"

The man opens his mouth, closes it, opens it again. "U-chi-ha Shi-su-i," he pronounces carefully, syllable by syllable. "I've barely allowed myself to think that name since I died."

"And yet you're alive."

"Functionally, I am dead," Shisui says. He shifts uncomfortably. "Now even more so, heh. I had to die… in order to help someone, I had to be dead and stay dead. Unfortunately my summons didn't quite see eye to eye with me on my desired death by drowning…" He laughs. "To answer your question… I've chosen death. So I know nothing. I didn't want to know anything that might tempt me to come back to life. This river basin is the home of my summons, so it's where I've been residing."

Kakashi fits this puzzle piece in all too well. "You tried to kill yourself for Itachi? For the massacre?"

"The massacre? What massacre?" Shisui's right hand fumbles at a cup with a straw by his bedside and brings it to his mouth for a drink.

"Can I… help you sit up or…" Kakashi says awkwardly.

"No, it's fine," Shisui says, putting the cup back. "What massacre?"

"First, was it for Itachi?"

Shisui twists the sheets in his hands. "Yes."

"You have no idea what massacre it could be?"

The sheet twisting continues. "He didn't… he didn't help the coup… he couldn't…"

"No, not that," Kakashi says. "It was the Uchiha who were massacred."

Shisui goes rigid. "No. I gave him my eye… to stop my uncle… it couldn't have been necessary…!"

"I'm afraid it's the truth," Kakashi replies. "Not too long after your death, Itachi killed off the entire Uchiha clan, except for his younger brother Sasuke, and disappeared. It was popularly believed—I myself believed it, up until I recognized you—that Itachi killed you to obtain the Mangekyou Sharingan he needed to destroy the clan."

"I don't believe it!" Shisui is more full of distress than his exhausted body can express. "It can't have been Itachi—Danzo must have framed him—Danzo is evil, _evil—_ "

"Try to calm yourself. Danzo's involvement is known now," Kakashi says, and this does seem to take the hard edge of the hysteria off of Shisui, although he is still noticeably and understandably upset by the news of his clan's near extinction. Kakashi regards him with a calculating eye. There is more shocking news to learn, but perhaps it would be better to tell it after Sakura's medical exam. "My partner, the kunoichi, is a medic nin. I think she had better examine you before we go any further. How did you get in this state?"

Shisui curls his lip. "Just ordinary bandits. In my youth I could have taken them out in my sleep. I barely escaped them alive."

"We're here on an operation," Kakashi says, "so to maintain our cover, I'll say that you wish to dictate some farewell letters and have my partner heal you under the guise of writing them down. Then we'll knock you out and dispose of your body straight back to Konoha."

"I suppose I can't argue with you, since you outrank me," Shisui says dryly, a ghost of the good humour he was famous for in his heyday, "but why would Konoha want me like this?"

Kakashi thinks of a lonely young man currently using Kagami's eyes elsewhere in the building and says, "There is at least one person who will be very pleased to know you've survived."

—

The recovery of the legendary _Shisui of the Body Flicker_ , who, apparently, is Sai's older brother, abruptly halts their mission into Earth and sends them back to Konoha post haste.

"Captain Yamato has the cells of the First Hokage," Sakura complains to Naruto and Sai by the campfire, "Naruto's the son of the Fourth, now I'm finding out you're an Uchiha, Kakashi is the last Hatake—how come I'm the only boring one around here?"

Sai, annoyingly, is characteristically calm and unreactive to the news that he has an older brother who is living.

"Well. I thought it might be the case. You see, I looked up my near relatives when I discovered Kagami was my father, and Shisui's body was never recovered. Suspicious, that. Thought it might turn out to be important. And so it has." He paused for a moment. "Kakashi-sensei says he tried to kill himself for his cousin. That's what my brother Shin did for me. So I think I will get along very well with him—my brother. I hope I will."

Tsunade leans on the desk as they give their return report until the wood creaks like a frightened rodent, whereupon she suddenly stands straight up with her hands on her hips. "How many more Uchiha are out there?" she demands. "Madara, Kagami's body, then his son, now his other son—should we be doing a count of the Uchiha clan mausoleum?"

"That might not be a bad idea," Sai says.

Everyone stares at him.

"I have a feeling," Sai continues, unperturbed, "that you will find that many of the corpses therein have no eyes."

"My God." Tsunade shudders and sits down with a thump. "I'm feeling more and more sympathetic to my Uncle Tobirama every day. You seem a very sweet young man, Sai, but your clan…!"

"I am not offended," Sai says.

"And I have a letter," Tsunade rummages in a drawer and pulls out a scroll, "here, from that paper woman in Amegakure. Sakura, you remember I mentioned that outbreak of viral encephalitis in that area?"

"Yes, I helped Shizune-sempai put together the antiviral instructions and supplies."

"Well, apparently none of their medics are worth a damn. They can't get the instructions to work and the outbreak is getting worse. I was going to chuck the scroll into the fire but then I thought about _somebody_ —" here she glared, not entirely convincingly, at Naruto—"who is always talking my ear off about when _he's_ Hokage he's going to help the little countries—usually when _I'm_ trying to teach him about how to interview academy staff or audit records. And somehow, _somehow_ I just couldn't. So. You, Sakura, will go to Rain and _make_ them learn how to make the medicine, no matter how stupid they are. You, Kakashi, will go with her. The two of you more than count as an ordinary four man cell for a C rank like this. And _you,_ Naruto… together with Sai, you are going to get in some very good auditing practice going through the Root records looking for what happened to Sai's eyes. If we can find them and give them to Shisui, then we have as many Uchiha working for Konoha as against it."

"What do you mean, auditing?" demands Naruto. "Does that mean paperwork dattebayo?!"

Tsunade ignores him with a big smile restored to her face. "Yamato will lead a surveillance team back to the Earth border area, waiting for word from me here in Konoha that Sai and Naruto are ready to rejoin them, whereupon Kakashi and Sakura will head over from Rain. Whereupon! Everything will go _smoothly_ this time! Am I understood?!"

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

—

They make overnight camp in a cave, and allow themselves the luxury of a smokeless fire jutsu for warmth. Sakura surprises Kakashi. "I have to admit," she says softly, looking into the fire, "I was really surprised when the mysterious stranger turned out _not_ to be Tadao."

Talking about _Icha Icha_ with all the rest of them there was one thing. Talking about _Icha Icha_ alone, by firelight, with his nubile former student was another thing. On the previous mission, Sakura had worn skin tight clothing and draped herself all over him, but he was in character then. Now, sitting there next to him with her blanket draped around her shoulders, she seems far closer. Kakashi feels his cheeks getting hot beneath his mask and manages a neutral, "Ah?"

"Yeah," Sakura says. She's taken off her sandals and is giving herself a foot massage. "Although… I mean, Hiroyuki is based on Orochimaru, isn't he? When I reread it, that really gave me the creeps."

 _She read it more than once?_ "Orochimaru wasn't always as vile as he was when you met him. When he wrote _Paradise_ , I think Jiraiya-sama still hadn't given up on him coming back to Konoha. He hoped that somehow, Tsunade would recover from her losses, and then he and Tsunade could make Orochimaru see the light, just like Tadao and Junko redeem Hiroyuki in the book."

"Yeah, but he basically wrote about Orochimaru having sex with Tsunade! Explicitly! At length! I mean, it's weird enough already that he's writing about her having sex with imaginary guys; writing about her having sex with another a real person who isn't Jiraiya is just impossible for me to understand! I would never want to even _think_ about some other girl having sex with—with a person I like."

Kakashi shrugs. "Hn. Remember that Jiraiya was a voyeur. I think jealousy is part of the erotic intensity of those chapters. And anyway, ultimately Junko doesn't bond with any of those other lovers. She chooses to be with Tadao, even though they're both alphas…"

"Yeah. I have to admit, my favourite part of the whole story was Tadao's big speech when he tells Junko that _he_ wants to be the one to use Hiroyuki's alpha-to-omega potion, not have _her_ change herself to be his omega. All those beautiful lines about how he doesn't want her to change a single particle of her being, because he worships every bit of her exactly as she is. I actually cried." She suddenly glares daggers at him. "If you tell anyone that _Icha Icha_ made me cry I'll break every bone in your body."

He gulps. "Wouldn't dream of it."

"I did think it was weird just how much time Jiraiya-sama spent describing body parts though in some parts. I didn't realize that you could describe thighs in that kind of detail, and I'm a medic."

She's moved on from her feet to her calves, and the word _thighs_ makes Kakashi's gaze drift there, with the disturbing intrusive thought that Sakura's are fully worthy of any and every adjective Jiraiya might have used.

He averts his eye to the flame.

"Overall, it was a good read, much better than I expected for sure. But I'm puzzled about why you read them so much. The same three books, over and over and over? You never get tired of them?"

"They're… almost like old friends now. You don't get tired of Naruto saying dattebayo, do you?"

"No, I guess I don't," Sakura laughs, and turns her head to look directly at him with a smile. "You know, this is actually nice."

"Hm?"

"Talking. Like comrades."

Kakashi fiddles with the strap of his sandal. "I told you we were comrades years ago."

"Yeah. But I've never really felt like we interacted like that until now. You know, Naruto used to say you were fun to talk to, but… well! I get what he means now, I guess."

"You guess." Kakashi chuckles. "You've always had a way of damning me with faint praise."

"No! Do I really?"

Kakashi puts on a mournful face. "Yes… how well I remember, for example, when you defended me to Naruto by telling me that I 'couldn't help having a face devoid of expression'..."

She covers her own face as she laughs. "Oh no! Did I really say that?"

"I'll never forget it." He pats his chest. "You wounded me, right here."

"Well, see, that just proves I didn't know you at all back then," she says. "You may keep most of your face covered up, but you actually have really deep feelings, I think… of course, ninja aren't supposed to show them…"

He decides to steer the conversation away from himself. "So, have you borrowed _Icha Icha Violence_ yet?"

"Nah. I'm gonna wait for Naruto to offer it to me. I don't want him to think I'm some kind of perv interested in that stuff. And you better not rat me out to him!"

He unfastens his hip pack and pulls out _Icha Icha Violence Vol. 1, pocket edition._ "I can keep a secret. Here, I happen to have _Violence_ with me." He holds it out with one hand while taking _Vol. 2_ from his pocket and opening it up. "Now we can both have some before bed reading and when Naruto offers to lend you the next volume, you can punch him in the jaw."

Sakura looks at him sideways, not taking the book. "...is there another blindfold scene?"

"Only one way to find out," he says flippantly, reading a paragraph of Vol. 2 to himself.

 _"I bet I can make you come," Tadao whispered into Junko's ear, "without even touching you."_

 _"Big deal," Junko scoffed, but he could see how the perky nipples beneath her low cut top tightened at the suggestion. "I make myself come without you touching me all the time."_

 _"It might be a little more difficult—" The handcuffs clinked into place. "—wearing these."_

Sakura takes the book.

—

Amegakure is poor and dirty. The constant moisture causes mould and rust everywhere, and the long and careless use of toxins in the civil war pollutes the soil and the water. Konan is cooperative and the remaining ninja are motivated, but the public health crisis goes far deeper than the acute meningitis outbreak. Sakura works from early in the morning until she collapses in bed late at night, swept away by the constant white noise of the raindrops on the windows.

Kakashi is equally busy with intelligence and other mysterious matters; they don't have a lot of time to compare notes on what they're doing, but he discreetly offers to swap volumes of _Icha Icha Violence_ about a week into their stay, which she discreetly accepts.

Not much more than a week later the message arrives that they've got to get back to the rest of Team Kakashi.

"Will you really be okay with a standard pace?" Kakashi calls once they're about five minutes run north from Amegakure proper.

"Yes," Sakura shouts back. "I'd rather get to Fudouiwa sooner and rest there."

They don't speak after that, the only sound the noise of their sandals over the slick terrain of the Land of Rain and then the drier terrain of the Land of Grass.

After several hours, Kakashi suddenly surges forward and at an angle.

"Hey!" shouts Sakura, sending more chakra to her feet to keep up. "This is not standard pace!"

"The wind shifted just for a moment. I know that smell." His headband is up. "There's no doubt about it, we've been spotted by an Iwa scout nin."

"Here in Grass?"

"This badlands area of Grass is practically an Earth colony," Kakashi yells, his pace increasing even more. "Get ready, we need to eliminate him before he can communicate with whoever he's scouting for."

"What?! Why?"

Kakashi doesn't even bother to answer her, his hands forming seals and then aiming down at the ground where a current of electricity rips a line forward, forward, forward... with a ghastly shriek, a human form bursts from the ground far ahead of them, convulsing with the electricity. But it doesn't stop the ninja from doing some kind of counter-jutsu and fleeing again. Kakashi and Sakura are much closer behind than before and gaining.

Then suddenly the man they are pursuing seemingly jumps straight down into the earth.

"An earth teleportation jutsu?" Sakura asks.

"No," a voice says behind them, "a cave system!"

As they turn towards the voice, they are slammed by a moving wall of rock like an earthen tsunami. As she falls downward, Sakura has no choice but to activate her seal.

—

The attack he expected to come from in front comes from the side—no, that's another enemy— _focus, Kakashi!_

Disorientation is an enemy of its own in this fight. The vast, dark cave system lights from odd angles from various jutsu. Kakashi is pretty sure he led Sakura right into a deliberate ambush.

There's no time to blame himself for that now, though. The focus has got to be on surviving, and above all, not letting another comrade die.

The enemies vary in skill and technique, mostly earth users, but a few of other elements, and a substantial number of kenjutsu users wielding the curved sabres and daggers typical of the Land of Earth. He hasn't been attacked by any wind release techniques yet, and so he presses his elemental advantage hard, along with a sabre he looted from a undersized Iwa genin whose corpse is cooling… somewhere… damn, which way did he come from?

He jerks away from another attack but catches another blow glancingly. It slices the vest right off of him and comes within millimeters of his skin.

A torrent of howls of absolute agony erupts in the distance somewhere, the echoes and rumbles coming from behind his left shoulder. Kakashi only gives it half his attention, but his current enemies are apparently not so well-trained, as they startle that way with enough of an opening to allow him to separate one's head from his neck and then electrocute the other.

He runs towards the diminishing shrieks, closing his Sharingan to preserve his chakra despite how useful it would be in the dark and twisting passages. Unfortunately he misses a hole and falls down a sliding passage that propels him forward like a chute. It narrows dangerously before suddenly dumping him out into a dim, enormous cavern that is currently occupied by a lot of dead and dying Iwa nin, the few living ones clawing at their bubbling skin.

"Sakura?" Kakashi calls.

He hears footsteps and a passageway glows with purple light before she suddenly appears, breathtaking and otherworldly, her usual green eyes too bright to look at, her forehead seal pulsing like a third eye from which ribbons of sage and natural chakra emanate, entwining her body and fanning around her like a peacock's display.

Then all at once she drops the glory off of her and she's just Sakura, utterly exhausted, bleeding and bruised in a few places, missing her backpack and most of her apron. "How do we get out? I only have a few minutes left of sage mode. That way was a dead end."

"I don't know," Kakashi answers. "I'm pretty low on chakra myself, but I have enough for the dogs."

He summons the pack just in time for another round of Iwa nin to appear.

"Pakkun," he says as they fight, Sakura reactivating her sage mode. "Where are we?"

"Ugh! Hard to say boss, with that acid stench."

Bull tears out an enemy's throat while Shiba and Guruko grab an enemy's legs long enough for Kakashi to stab them through the heart. "Deep underground, though?"

"Pretty deep, for sure, but there will be a trail—"

The ground shakes. "Stop the cave-in!" shouts an enemy commander.

 _Well, at least they don't want us all to die…_

Kakashi can do little more than hold his breath, breathing whenever it seems possible, and hang on as the caverns twist and crumble and reform around him, the diminished number of living Earth jutsu users clearly struggling to keep the entire cave from collapsing in on them. A passage breaks through and Kakashi runs towards it, glad to see Sakura running ahead of him. He looks back and does a quick head count of his pups. All accounted for.

"Never mind the trail," Kakashi tells Pakkun, "I think we're going to need rescue out of this."

"You got it, boss," Pakkun says. "Where? Konoha?"

"Yamato and the others are closer. In Fudouiwa. You'd better go now."

"Sure we shouldn't help you with these last?"

"No, time is more important. We don't know how much air there will be."

"Okay boss. Boys, we're out!"

—

"I know I'm Earth natured," Sakura says as she ducks a boulder, "but I really hate rocks right now."

Kakashi chuckles, but she can hear the exhaustion in his voice as well. When the cave-in happened, she'd hoped that maybe the Iwa nin would stop attacking long enough for talking, maybe to the point where they could negotiate something, but they're all hellbent on killing them. She's out of sage mode and now needs to limit herself entirely to evasion to preserve her chakra for healing.

They've run, and run, and run so much, and yet there are still a few enemies left in this underground nightmare world.

She pats her apron for a soldier pill, and pales. "Oh no!"

"What is it?" Kakashi drives a kunai into the back of a woman's neck.

"I think I dropped _Icha Icha Violence_ back there somewhere."

"That's fine, I buy them in bulk. Twitching Limb Technique!" Kakashi pulses electricity into an opponent, making him lose control of his muscles enough for Kakashi to decapitate him.

Sakura dodges another wave of sharp projectiles, but a kunai sized one manages to lodge itself in her thigh. "Shit!"

"Lightning Release: Chain Lightning!" Kakashi sends electricity towards the one who got the hit on her, taking her out. "Sakura! Are you alright?"

"Yeah, it wasn't poisoned—oh shit!"

The environment is rumbling again. Another cave-in, and who knows how many opponents there are left at all, much less if they have the ability or inclination to stop them all being crushed to death.

"We won't die," Kakashi promises, grabbing her around the waist. "I won't let you die. Lightning Release: Cloud Shield!"

—

When the cave-in has finished settling, Kakashi stills, using all his senses to see if the final enemy was taken out. There is no chakra signature. No scent. Cautiously, he drops the shielding jutsu.

Alright. The last enemy is gone. But they are now trapped deep underground. The light giving jutsu one of the enemies cast seems to be holding strong, but it is stationary to their area. There is no way to tell how much cave ahead has collapsed. For the time being, the chamber they are in appears stable, but if they began trying to blast their way out, they could end up bringing everything down, especially considering that they are both depleted from the fight. He sighs. Waiting for rescue is dull, but they can't risk anything else.

Pakkun can take the message there pretty fast… then assembling a team… then a few hours for the team to make it there… then they need to figure out a safe way to excavate them… probably six to eight hours until rescue. The oxygen should easily hold out that long. The only enemy will be boredom. At least, despite losing his flak jacket to the enemy blades, he still has his _Icha Icha Paradise: Super Pocket Edition._ He pulls it out and turns to Sakura, intending to give her a mild tease about being willing to read it aloud to ease her own boredom.

Sakura is sitting, leaning exhausted against the cave wall, her hands glowing green and her eyes glassy as she stabilizes the gouge on her thigh. The light sputters out and her hands begin to tremble.

"Sakura? Are you alright?"

She doesn't answer right away, merely hugging herself, the trembling spreading to the rest of her body with the characteristic aura of shock. But this isn't blood loss or sepsis. "Chakra exhaustion," she manages to say, at the same time as his own mind comes to that conclusion.

A moment later her scent hits him.

An earthy, savory scent of cream and _sex_.

The chakra exhaustion is pushing her into a spontaneous heat.

He reaches for the pocket in his missing flak jacket automatically, swears, and then pulls a scent blocker out of his thigh pouch and quickly breaks the capsule under his nose. Kakashi winces as the vapours burn into his nasal passages, leaving his face with a strange numbed feeling, but for the time being her scent is almost totally absent.

Sakura has buried her face in her hands now.

"It's alright, Sakura," he says, as calmly as he can manage. "I've used a scent blocker. It's alright."

She uncovers her face and looks at him, face full of shame. "I'm sorry… I didn't think… I didn't think it was that low…"

"It's really alright," he says. "Just use your heat suppressant and we'll be fine. It happens."

She freezes, then looks down at herself. "I had… one in my backpack and one in my thigh pouch…" Obviously the enemy had made quick work of that when she sustained the gash to her thigh, and there's no sign of the backpack. The trembling becomes shaking. "Kakashi, do you… do you have…?"

She can't meet his gaze, and he's glad, because he's pretty sure the panic on his own face would not improve her own. He only kept one heat suppressant injector as a back-up. In his flak jacket.

His scent blocker would start to wear off within an hour. Holding out for six hours would be absolutely impossible. But if she was suffering chakra exhaustion, for him to attempt to blast their way out would be even more foolish, especially when he's low on chakra himself.

He doesn't even have enough chakra to summon Pakkun back.

"Kakashi?" Sakura's voice is tight, like a string about to snap.

 _Ok, genius, come up with something… come on… something…_

—

She stares down at the cave floor, attempting to convince herself that she's totally alone in the cave, and not only a few metres away from a man, but it doesn't help, because now that her heat is in full force, she can smell him, all petrichor and ozone and metal and sweat. Sweat skimming over those masterfully defined muscles that she has healed so many times and holy _shit_ this is _Kakashi_ she's creaming her panties for, what the _actual_ fuck.

Even with the ninken delivering the message… "How long do you think…?"

"Six hours minimum," he says bluntly.

This isn't fair. This is the _worst._ This is it, the heat she can't escape, and she can't even take the comfort of just surrendering herself to it—not that she would _want_ to surrender to it, she sternly tells herself, because this is _Kakashi_ which is _forbidden_ and _not at all allowed_ —because she's wounded and suffering from the first stages of chakra exhaustion and just wants to collapse, vomit, weep, sleep, hug a stuffed animal, and wash down a bunch of painkillers with some sake, not necessarily in that order.

Combining all of that with being madly, intensely aroused is like having a split personality where you hate both sides.

And in roughly an hour, maybe a little more or less, whenever the two of them can no longer hold out, she's going to lose her virginity, get knocked up, and be bonded for life.

Unless, of course, one of them can come up with something. Maybe there's some medical knowledge she can use. _The female reproductive system… the male reproductive system… what would be weak points…_ well, it might technically _work_ , but even under the current weight of consequences, she is not going to ask Kakashi-sensei to let her castrate him without anesthesia with an unsanitized kunai…

 _The olfactory system… no… the mechanics of sexual intercourse… but knotting in particular is so little studied… damn… is there anything…_

 _The refractory period?_

"Kakashi?"

"Unless you have an idea, we probably shouldn't talk," he says. If the sound of her voice is doing to him what his voice is doing to her, she knows exactly why he said that.

She swallows to calm herself. "What if… this is embarrassing… what if you were to, ah, masturbate—" his shoulder twitches, but she rushes on—"and bring yourself to orgasm… wouldn't the refractory period buy us some time? Clear your mind a little?"

There is a pause, and he says, his voice even more strained, "It's not a bad idea, but I don't think… touching myself, knowing you're near… I would… I don't think I could keep control…"

"What if I did it for you?"

There is a long silence, and Sakura can hear his breath coming faster and harsher. She's not at all sure if even her own offer was completely disinterested… she so badly wants to touch him, somewhere, anywhere, _there…_

"Alright," he whispers, but he doesn't move, remaining facing the cave wall.

She winces a little as she stands, but at least she doesn't limp as she approaches him. Unsure, she crouches down behind him, and gingerly touches a hand to his hip.

He turns then, and as he looks down at her and she looks up at him, the desire in his visible eye is as intense and mesmerizing as a sharingan.

They both reach for his fly at the same time, bumping their hands into each other, and they both laugh sheepishly, easing the tension somewhat.

She lets him take over the process of undoing his pants—they are his pants, after all—as she says, as lightly as possible, "Sorry. I've never done this before."

"Maa… well… I've never had it done before either…" he says with a similar sort of uneasy lightness as the pants drop around his ankles, revealing tight black boxer-briefs with a large bulge.

"Really?! I would have thought… I mean, you're… not _old_ , you're not old, but you know, older…" She stops talking, partly because she didn't know where she was going with that anyway, but mostly because his hands are fidgeting with the band of the underwear.

"I, uh… I had a mate once when I was very young, but she died very soon after." He keeps fidgeting.

Her own fingers are itching to reach up and just pull the thing off already. "So when you died during Pain's assault, you lost your mark…"

His hands apparently win the fight against his brain as he suddenly pulls the underwear down, and Sakura is confronted with his erection. Centimetres away from it, she no longer feels nervousness or doubt, only an aching emptiness between her legs and a whole-bodied desire to be as close to this man as possible. Her only task now is to redirect her mind as best she can to _only_ touch him with her hands.

"Sakura," he gasps as she goes to work without any hesitation, grasping his cock with both hands and pumping the shaft with a slow, steady rhythm. He closes his eye and turns his head to the ceiling, grabbing his own hair as he moans. Sakura's mouth is dry and she licks her lips as she continues stroking him, struggling not to imagine him thrusting into her in this slow but relentless pace.

 _I want him inside me, I want him inside me so badly… I'm so empty, I need him, I want to be closer to him, closer to him…_

"Fuck my mouth," she blurts out, then turns as pink as her hair, but he doesn't seem at all deterred by her embarrassment as he accepts her crude invitation.

Now it is her hair that his hands are tangled in. "Fuck," he groans. "Oh, _fuck_ …" His hips are jerking arrhythmically, increasing in speed as desire overtakes him, slowing or briefly stopping as he regains momentary control.

With her mouth and sometimes her throat full of him, she cannot speak, only make occasional moans around him of similar feelings of passionate enjoyment of the current act and longing for something even more. This close, the musky notes of his scent are dominant and every inhale is a pleasure in itself.

She knows what is coming, but expected some dramatic announcement of impending orgasm, a must in every smut scene, at least in _Icha Icha_. Instead, fluid is suddenly shooting down her throat, and she gags, pulls back, coughs, and is sprayed across the face and torso with streams of his ejaculate.

Kakashi turns away, leaning his forehead against the cave wall, panting hard. Quivering, Sakura looks up, but he doesn't turn back to her. She coughs again, wipes her face with the back of her hand and then stares at the mix of semen, dirt, and blood now coating her gloves. How disgusting she must look.

She feels disgusting all the way down as she crawls back to where she was by the opposite wall. Empty and alone and unwanted.

—

The orgasm does clear Kakashi's head somewhat. He still wants her, but for the time being it is just a very strong attraction, not a magnetic pull steadily increasing towards madness.

When his heartbeat and breathing have slowed a little, he opens his eye and turns around. Sakura is back where she was before, shaking even worse than before, hunched over with her back to him.

"Sakura?" he says, worriedly.

She laughs, low and shaky. "Even… even literally trapped in cave in heat with an alpha… I'm always rejected… anyone I actually try to reach for rejects me… Sasuke-kun… Naruto… Kakashi…"

Shame and guilt twist his stomach. It was the best they could come up with, but while it has helped Kakashi, it seems to have tormented Sakura. Being so close to him must have kicked her heat into overdrive, only to be left wanting. "Sakura, it wasn't a bad idea, but…"

He trails off because she is not reacting to his speaking. She's muttering near incoherently as she huddles, and even his keen hearing can only pick up stray discernible words— _empty, rejected, burning._

"Sakura, look at me," he repeats in his most serious commanding officer voice, which feels inappropriate all in itself to address the woman who's just given you your first ever blowjob.

No reaction. _Shit._

He turns back to the wall for a moment to think while his mind is still relatively unclouded. The arousal will come back before rescue does, that much is certain. Would Sakura be capable of doing what she's just done again if it reduced her to this afterwards the first time? Especially since it would probably need to be repeated? And what about the physical danger? Sakura is already injured, chakra exhausted, and now faces the prospect of hours of unsated heat. He can already tell her system is gearing up to try to produce more pheromones.

With a twisting stomach, Kakashi realizes that a forced bonding is inevitable.

He is a shinobi and his training instantly carries him to the next step: damage reduction.

If they're going to bond, what is the _least_ traumatic way to do it?

—

Sakura has her eyes squeezed tightly shut when she feels Kakashi's hand on her shoulder and reflexively nuzzles into the touch. _Oh please, don't pull away from me again._

"Open your eyes, Sakura-chan," she hears him say in a low, assured voice.

When she does, she finds that she is looking at his bare face.

It is such a world-tilting shock that it manages to cut through all the ache and burning and yearning of the heat. The dark open eye, the closed eye bisected by the scar—that is Kakashi. But she never imagined that beneath the mask was a set of perfectly kissable lips with a tiny beauty mark just below and to the side. She should have been well-familiar with the shape of his jaw and the straightness of his nose, but somehow without the mask it is like she's never seen either before. It isn't Kakashi-sensei at all. It's some kind of living statue.

"You're beautiful," she whispers, and he laughs and scratches at the back of his head, and it is Kakashi's laugh and gesture being performed by this mysterious hot stranger.

"Maa, well, thank you," he says. "I hope you feel the same when your heat's over."

Sakura starts to slide back into the despair, but he stops it when he says, "Hey. Sakura-chan. It'll be alright. Don't lose yourself. Stay here with me."

"But you won't take me," she whimpers, unable to muster the energy to stop the tears from leaking out.

Kakashi pulls off his shirt in a swift motion and tenderly wipes at her face with it. "I will. I'll take you, Sakura. I'll bond with you."

And the relief at the idea of an end to this agony is enough to wipe away all thought of who this man is and who she is to him, and when she leans forward to hug him her initial impulse is driven by gratitude.

He doesn't return the hug at first, but when he does, it isn't gratitude anymore. His arms wrap around her, pulling her into him. His bare back feels scorching hot compared to the coldness of her fingers.

The frogs on her top come undone and dizzily she realizes that she must be the one undoing them, because he has both hands in her hair. It shifts off her shoulders and falls to the ground behind her.

"Sakura, Sakura," he murmurs, and now his hands are pulling at her hips, shifting her into his lap. "You smell amazing… you're so soft…"

"Please," she begs, not sure what she's asking for as she arches her back, kneeling on his thighs. But he unwinds her breast bindings and takes a nipple into his mouth and oh, _oh_ , this must be what she was begging for.

His hands hook into her shorts and panties and pull them down. Impatiently, wordlessly he urges her to lift one knee and then the other and she assists in wiggling them off her legs entirely. His tongue swirls around her breast as his hands slide back up her thighs. One hand grips her hip as the other darts between her legs. Sakura gasps as callused fingertips slide over her sex.

Kakashi's forehead is pressing into her sternum as he pants, "So wet… Sakura, you're practically dripping… you're so ready for me to take you…"

"Yes, yes, take me!" Her hips buck into his hand, and she moans in loss as the hand pulls away.

She looks down and he's undoing his pants, shoving the underwear down his hips just enough to free himself, and then he's grabbing her hips again and she could practically scream her relief because finally, _finally—_

—

Tight, so incredibly _tight_. Yet so slick that she is giving way to him in absolute ecstasy. Her eyes are closed and the most glorious moans are caressing his ears as he rocks her up and down on his cock. Not the faintest trace of pain.

Even through the intense pleasure he's experiencing, the savage part of himself—the one he's been fighting off desperately for hours, the one that he would have thought would have been more than appeased to finally be fucking this delicious omega—roars to the forefront of his mind.

 _Rin didn't enjoy it at all the first time, and nothing like this much the other two times… I thought Sakura was a virgin? Was there a boyfriend I don't know about? She's_ mine _, all mine… I can't stand the thought of anyone else touching her…!_

"Have you been with a man before?" he growls into her ear, and then licks at her earlobe, sucks at her pulse point, thinking of how soon, how soon he'll be biting, marking, _claiming_ —

"Ah! Uh—I… no, n-never—uh!" She seems to be having difficulty forming words through her moans of pleasure.

Appeased, the beast retreats back far enough for his conscious mind to regain control. He can't feel regret or shame yet—there's no room to feel something that negative—but he mutters, "Sorry, it's just—I want to be the only one—"

"Yes…" she moans, and her agreement makes him grip his fingers tighter.

"The only one that can fill you like this—"

" _Yes, oh god!_ " She hangs onto his shoulders and he never would have thought it was possible for her to be any tighter but somehow she is as her orgasm ripples around his cock and he swears he can feel every single nerve ending on its surface.

—

"Shit, Sakura! You're already coming all over my cock. Fuck, you're so tight. Can you even handle my knot?"

Sakura always supposed she would hate being knotted. It was _gross_ , she thought—the most base and animal part of an already shamefully primitive process. She imagined gritting her teeth for Sasuke's sake, awkwardly sweaty bodies, cramps, soreness.

She never imagined that she'd ever be moaning in a man's lap, exhaustion temporarily forgotten in a sea of hormones and endorphins, inhaling so deeply through her nose to get more of his scent that she was hyperventilating. She never imagined herself saying what she does next, as soon as her orgasm subsides enough for her to form words: "Then fuck me so hard I _black out._ "

A low laugh comes from somewhere very far away. "That's right… so amazing, so strong, my Sakura… My treasure, my darling, _mine_ …"

His cock slides into her again, and this time he clutches her to himself and she gasps as sharp teeth pierce her wrist. She's so full, she's so full, but the base of him is swelling inside her, stretching her further, locking them together. Her orgasm won't stop. Sakura feels like she's losing her grip on existence itself, ascending to a simultaneously higher yet more physical plane where there is only touch, only his touch, on her, around her, in her, oh how he's _in_ her—

She bites down on something and it must be him because he's the only other thing that exists, and then nothing does.


	19. Chapter 19

Sakura's bite slackens, and Kakashi awkwardly pulls his thumb from her mouth, wiping the trail of blood with the side of his glove. He gingerly opens his own jaw to lift her hand free and inspect the wound, letting her head loll against his chest.

He winces. The bite is even larger than the one he gave Rin… although he supposes his mouth is larger now. The puncture wounds ooze blood a bit, but fortunately his canines didn't pierce any veins. His chakra is already forming the mark within. He moves his thumb over it thoughtlessly and lets out a low moan at the pleasure of it. Quickly he pulls his thumb back. HIs knot is never going to go down if he keeps doing that…

 _I could live with my knot being inside her forever._

 _No. No. What is wrong with me?!_

 _Well, why not enjoy it? This feels amazing and it's not like anything can be changed. I just wish I could have had the Sharingan going…_

He closes his eyes and pictures her in his ordinary memory. The dull pleasure of being still knotted is like a low but constant orgasmic afterglow throughout his body.

 _My mate is amazing… beautiful… perfect… flawless… strong… sweet… mine, mine, mine…_

The marking bite on his lower thumb is actually bleeding quite a bit more freely than hers was, and he presses the wound against his hip bone to staunch it while keeping his left arm wrapped around Sakura. Kakashi has to fight to keep his eyes open or he really might just fall asleep. And this is not how he wants the rescue team discovering them.

His knot slowly goes down, and when the afterglow has almost totally faded, he carefully lifts her off of him. She's naked, and he hates to lay her down on the rough and dirty ground, but there's no other option for the time being. He tucks his softening cock away and redoes his pants, then retrieves her clothing and redresses her carefully. Kakashi lets his hand linger for a moment on the tiny bulge in her abdomen where her body has already expanded the uterus to store his cum. Proof, like the pale teardrop-shaped discolouration of his chakra forming in her skin.

Once she's dressed, he lifts her back into his lap and leans against a wall to wait for rescue. Kakashi brushes the dust and dirt from her hair as best he can, which gradually becomes merely enjoying petting her. A dreamy haze sets over him.

All shinobi who make it past genin have some coping mechanism, but which one depended upon the personality. Alcohol, gambling, smoking, food, thrill seeking, sex… his own choice of reading material was perhaps a clue that his repressed sexual and romantic urges went deeper into the core of what satisfied him than he would wish to acknowledge to even himself.

 _Why not enjoy it while I can…?_

After some hours, a rumble startles him awake. The light jutsu has gone out and he's in total darkness. Something is arcing down from a crack in the ceiling and forming a cage around them. Then the top of the cage wrenches wide. Kakashi blinks up into the blinding light where two heads are looking down at them.

"Sempai?" calls Yamato. "Can you be moved?"

"I see no spinal damage," says Neji. "...Ah. Pull them up."

Neji asks Yamato to make him a temporary shelter for examination and wastes no time once he gets the muffling jutsu in place. "Spontaneous heat and no suppressants?"

"Yes."

Neji says nothing more, his Byakugan still active. His hands glow with a dull green light for a moment as he heals a few injuries on Sakura's unconscious body. "This will be complicated."

"Won't she be alright?"

"Just deep chakra exhaustion at this point," Neji says. "Hokage-sama wants to see you both herself, at Tanzaku-Gai. I thought she just wanted a gambling vacation, but…"

"I don't think anyone expected this," Kakashi says.

"No… but this ambush does unsettle things… I can see why the Hokage would want to receive your intelligence outside of Konoha in such a case." He deactivates his eyes and opens up a medical kit, selecting some ingredients and preparing a syringe. "The rest of our team is currently performing reconnaissance. I think it's best for Sakura-san's stability that she remain unconscious for the trip to Tanzaku-Gai. Mayu-san—she's an Inuzuka—can carry her, and I'm sure Captain Yamato will be more than happy to carry you. Now, let me just give you an examination as well."

—

Sakura dreams of floating in the Milky Way, the silver expanse of stars glittering around her body.

If she reaches out, she could grab a handful of them. But there is no need.

She's with the stars, and the space, and the space and the stars are in her too, no matter what.

Far, far away—and yet so close she could reach out and run a hand through blonde or black hair—Naruto and Sasuke are standing on the earth. Well, they aren't standing, they are moving a great deal, relative to one another. But none of the motion makes a difference relative to her in this space.

 _Are they really irrelevant to me?_

 _Am I really irrelevant to them?_

 _No… I have a choice…!_

—

Kakashi's eyes flutter open. He closes Obito's eye as his normal one focuses on Tsunade's eternally perfect face. She appears calm. But that could be a trap.

"I will let you live," Tsunade says. "Half because killing you would just make things worse, and half because if there wasn't an alpha around for her to mate with in that situation, she probably would have overproduced pheromones until she died."

It's probably the best reaction he could hope for, especially since Tsunade currently has her hands over his groin as he lies, drained, in a cot. She's probably just giving him a check-up.

Probably.

He turns his head to the side. He's on a cot in a room, possibly a hotel room, dimly lit through closed gauzy curtains. Sakura is lying on a bed nearby, motionless.

"How long until she wakes up?" he asks as she hands him a bottle with a thick straw. His thirst and hunger roar to life and make him suck eagerly at the recovery shake.

Tsunade snorts. "Well. You've been in an induced coma yourself until I got here. It's been almost a day since they found you. Clever, on young Neji's behalf. 'Copy Ninja Kakashi.' More like 'Chakra Exhaustion Kakashi,' that's the reputation you ought to have if Bingo Books weren't 75% lies."

"I passed out?"

"Oh no, he knocked you out. Your mistake in thinking _that_ boy would offer you pain relief. It's done you a world of good." Tsunade steps back. "She should wake up fairly soon. As much as I hate to admit it, I should probably give you some privacy. Moving forward, we need to get you two adjusted to being mates as fast as possible. So. As a wedding gift, I'll arrange a honeymoon for you here in Tanzaku-Gai."

"A… honeymoon?"

"Hey. I may be a drunkard and a romantic failure, but I'm also the number one medic in the world, at least until your mate snatches that rank from me. I know everything there is to know about forced bonds—which isn't much—but from what there is, you better damn well believe I'm going to follow the treatment recommendations. And that means giving you, and her, a chance to come to terms with the bond _away_ from all the pressure of everyone else back in Konoha. I only wish I could give you more than two weeks."

She closes the door quietly behind her, leaving Kakashi ruminating in the bed about _two weeks vacation._ He's never in his entire life had a vacation of _any_ length.

 _Two weeks… to come to terms with the bond._

He carried Rin in the hollow of his throat for over a decade, a lost piece of her, unmoored and unsatisfied. Going back to being unmarked was a completeness that felt fake, illusionary, though it lasted for two years.

He raises his hand up again and looks at the mark. Tsunade neatly took care of the actual bite scar, leaving only a golden square wrapping around his thumb.

And instead of the hollow in his throat that reached out for nothing, Kakashi's mark has a mate. The connection was at the back of his consciousness all the time, but it becomes more distinct as he directs his attention to it. It's a largely wordless lizard brain sense of _mate close, mate healthy, good_.

He's not used to feeling this kind of satisfaction with the world.

—

Sakura finally stirs, and Kakashi is instantly up, leaping out of the cot and pulling up a chair next to her bed. He hesitates a moment as her eyes flutter, but pulls the mask down as they finally stay open and focus on his face. He feels stupidly vulnerable doing this, but before she lost consciousness he had his mask off, right? Maybe the transition will seem less jarring this way?

Her green eyes slowly wander over his face. The shape of it. The little beauty mark. That charming smile, so perfect to put someone at ease… even to gain the trust of three reckless ninja kids...

 _"I travel from east to west looking for scoops," Sukea said to the cute little genin, smiling warmly._

 _"What about the north and the south?" Naruto demanded, the smallest on his team._

 _Sakura whirled towards him, her long pink hair fluffing in her wake. "Naruto! You get distracted by such stupid things, really!"_

"Sukea…" she says, and for a moment he just stares at her. "I can't believe it… that stupid day… Sukea was you the whole time? Sukea… Sukea, Scare, as in _scarecrow_ , oh god it was that obvious the entire time! Was he a shadow clone? Or was the other Kakashi a shadow clone?"

He laughs nervously. "Sakura, you are something else. I can't believe this is the first thing you want to ask…"

He trails off because she is staring at him with that Tsunade-like look that promises almost limitless violence in a beautiful package.

"Maa," he says, pulling at the mask around his neck nervously, "It was just a joke!"

"Unbelievable," she groans, closing her eyes again. "I can't even brag to Naruto about being the first to see your face because he's already seen it too!"

Kakashi stares at her again. _Is she… brain damaged? This is what she wants to talk about? Is it some kind of denial?_

"You're still the first to see it without make-up for a very long time," he says carefully.

"Unbelievable!" she repeats, beating her hands against her eyes. "Make-up, a wig, and what… contact lenses? That's what fooled us?! I would have thought the sharingan would have _melted_ a contact lens or something… there's no justice in this world at all…"

Kakashi wonders if he should summon Tsunade to evaluate Sakura for a mental breakdown. "Hey, Sakura… was it that stupid of a prank? I preferred to think of it as a character-building exercise... You even got little Hinata-chan to play her role without stuttering… That was a real miracle of teamwork, I was proud of you all…"

Sakura giggles weakly. "Yeah… we were all so young and stupid and—"

She freezes suddenly, and pulls her hands away from her face. She is staring at the mark on her right wrist, and her left hand gingerly touches it.

Kakashi fidgets with his mask again. "You remember now?"

"I remembered all the time," she whispers, staring at the mark. "I just… I was trying not to, I think…"

He can't help wincing at this, even though he knows she's completely justified. How could a beautiful, charming, and talented person like her, someone who has only just become a woman, relish the idea of being chained for life to a broken old pervert like him?

"I'm sorry," she whispers, and he's thrown.

" _You're_ sorry?"

"I should have had more back-ups—managed my chakra better—something. This must be terrible for you."

"Terrible for _me?_ " Tsunade definitely needs to run that check for brain damage. "Are you kidding, Sakura?"

She looks up at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

"You aren't… I would have thought…" The usually glib copy nin is at a rare loss for words for a moment. "Sakura, I am thirty-two years old and yet my only successful relationship is the one between me and _Icha Icha_." She cracks a smile at that. "Now I've suddenly gained a mate who is a gorgeous kunoichi—a genius—eighteen years old!—lots of friends—many admirers—the world's _first slug sage_. People are not going to be shaking their heads saying, 'That poor guy.'"

She laughs weakly and looks back down at her wrist. "You make me sound like a catch."

"It's the truth."

"The truth seems more like 'whiny crybaby who keeps messing everything up finally messes up legendary Copy Nin's life beyond repair' to me," she mutters.

He reaches out and catches her hand. The two marks touch, sending a frisson of pleasure through them both—not an erotic, arousing pleasure, but a warm, comforting sensation like sinking into a bed with freshly changed sheets after a shower. "Sakura, believe me, the only one I feel sorry for is you. I know you… had someone in mind… and besides him, you could have found happiness so many places. Whereas I—" he coughs, and rubs his hair awkwardly with the other hand. "I feel that… far from messing it up… my life with you will be so much better than I deserve…"

She blushes and turns her face.

"And I was the one who led you into the ambush."

She frowns at that. "It's not as if not chasing him would have avoided the fight."

"The terrain advantage would have been less, and we wouldn't have been separated."

"Alright, show me your time travel jutsu and we'll do it over again."

Kakashi sighs. "I suppose you have a point. We'll just have to… keep going forward. Here, you should drink something."

Sakura sits up and gratefully accepts a bottle of shake for herself, and when she finishes and sets it on the nightstand, she looks around. "Where are we?"

"A hotel room, I think, in Tanzaku-Gai. Yamato and Neji brought us here to meet with Hokage-sama."

Sakura winces. "Tsunade-sama is here?" _Great. Time for the scolding of my life..._

Kakashi regards her for a moment before speaking, unsure what her reaction is about. "Yes."

The door opens. " _Uwase o surebe kage,_ " Tsunade says in the door: gossip about someone and their shadow appears.

" _Uwase o surebe Hokage-sama_ , in this case," Kakashi replies, and the Hokage rolls her eyes at the pun.

"That's terrible. You're terrible." She crosses to the bed. "Well? How are you feeling? Aside from the chakra exhaustion, there was nothing really wrong with you. I'd be surprised if you didn't fully recover within a few days." Tsunade held out a packet to Kakashi. "Here, your room key and some money. Put on a henge and buy the two of you some supplies."

Kakashi bowed and acquiesced to the implied order to get lost.

—

Sakura looks at her master, though she doesn't want to. "Are you very disappointed in me?"

"Cut the crap," Tsunade-sama says bluntly, her beautifully manicured nails drumming against her upper arm. "The only thing I'm disappointed about is that I can't celebrate my apprentice's wedding by splitting a bottle of sake with her."

Sakura's eyes widen a little. Tsunade-shishou is many things, and one of those things is blunt. She wouldn't say such a thing if she didn't mean it. "Well… I guess that means you can have the whole bottle to yourself."

Tsunade laughs. "Hm! Maybe it's not a disappointment after all then. You know, Tanzaku-Gai is famous for its Castle Tower Koshu, sake made using water from the underground river near here and then aged for five years… it's quite a delicacy…"

Tsunade had that dreamy, thirsty spark in her eye that denoted that she was already mentally downing her third dish.

"Uh… I thought the castle tower fell down…"

Her master waves this away. "They didn't keep the sake _in_ the tower. Anyway. Don't distract me. Your brat of a husband is arranging your honeymoon suite. When he gets back, we'll do the formalities for the marriage and then the two of you can focus on reorienting yourselves around your bond. Not to mention all that heat sex." She grumbles as Sakura pinkens. "I'll be staying over at the Koyomitsuru Casino Hotel for two nights before I go back to Konoha. If you want to write anyone a letter, I can carry it back to break the news about you two ahead of time."

"Hai."

"I suggest a simple physical disguise to keep your cover while you're here," Tsunade continues. "A little concealer over your seal and a temporary hair dye should be all you need. Something subdued and forgettable. Brown or black? Although knowing Kakashi he may have already thought of it."

Kakashi indeed returns to the room with brown hair dye for them both, although the dye ends up looking very different on them: Kakashi's hair is a cool ash-brown, while Sakura's is a warm auburn.

Hiding the seal she worked so hard for stings a little. Sakura dusts the powder over the concealer and turns towards Tsunade-shishou for approval, who gives her a thumbs up.

Rather than Sukea's purple facial markings, this time Kakashi is going for a simple eye patch over the Sharingan and some more concealer over the scar.

"Well, the eyepatch makes you memorable, but I suppose it's as good as it gets," Tsunade says. "Already, wedding time. I brought the forms and your seals."

Sakura takes the large, imposing formal seal and dips it into the ink. She only ever used the seal to agree to her apartment rental. Now she's using it to get married. In fact, she realizes as she lifts the seal up and looks down at _Haruno Sakura_ , this may very well be the last time she uses it.

So many times in her girlhood she daydreamed about being Uchiha Sakura… and now she was going to be Hatake Sakura.

Kakashi puts his mark next to hers. As a clan head, his seal merely says _Hatake._ "Hatake Sakura…" he muses aloud. "It's just as pretty as Haruno Sakura, isn't it?"

Her name would go from meaning _cherry blossom of spring_ to _field of cherry blossoms._

"How very auspicious…" Tsunade's perfectly red lips twitch a little. "I remember… how thrilled I was to become Kato Tsunade… Kato used the kanji for wisteria, which represents… longevity… but with Tsunade meaning rope..." She shakes her head, the blonde pigtails swaying like twin metronomes. "I suppose a rope of wisteria was bound to snap. Just my luck… yours will be better… don't worry, I won't bet on it though."

Sakura impulsively grabs her mentor into a hug, enjoying the comforting combination of Tsunade-shishou's strength and softness, her familiar powdery scent blended with sharp notes of alcohol and medicines.

"Little brat," Tsunade-shishou says thickly. "Well! I'll be on my way then. Got to get started on that bottle of koshu."

—

"Welcome back Yamada-san!" the hotel concierge calls. "Congratulations on your marriage."

"Congratulations on your marriage!" echoes the other concierge.

Sakura grips at his arm a little but smiles at the staff warmly as they bow.

"I figured you would want to choose for yourself where possible," he says as they walk to the room. "So I only bought you two yukata—that one you're wearing, and one for you to change into-and one nightgown. Tomorrow we can go shopping for more."

"A shower!" Sakura's eyes sparkle.

When she comes out of the shower, wrapped in a towel, Kakashi is lying down on the couch, his face half-obscured by a book and his arm over his eye. From the head-on angle, it's a familiar sight, except that the book is not smut, but rather _Mutual and Self-Forgiveness After Forced Bonding_ , and when he lowers the book and his arm, his entire face is visible. His eye crinkles and she can actually see the mouth smiling along with it. "Good shower?"

She clears her throat. "Yeah, first shower after a mission is always good, right?" Sakura walks over to the shopping bags and picks around through them, pulling out a nightgown and panties. She glances at Kakashi, but he's back to looking at the book.

 _Not like he hasn't done more than see me already, right?_

After she's dressed and hung up the towel, she sits down in an armchair opposite the couch. "So you went to a bookstore, huh? Didn't they have _Icha Icha?_ "

Kakashi's foot shifts the book pile to reveal a bright teal cover. " _Icha Icha Tactics_ vol. 1. So you can read the next book."

"Oh!" She leans forward and picks it up, and she begins reading.

 _Princess Yui slipped her dainty feet into the pantyhose and slid them slowly and carefully up her creamy legs. She was always very careful to avoid tearing and ripping her stockings because it was so difficult to find stockings that were long enough for her exquisite legs and wide enough for her delectable bottom yet also clung to her tiny waist._

Sakura rolls her eyes, but keeps reading.

 _A sudden blizzard had hit her party as they traveled, forcing them to take shelter in a tiny one-room cabin. The princess bit a rosy lip, thinking of her poor protectors who would surely insist on sleeping outside to give her privacy. She wrapped the dry kimono around herself quickly and poked her head out from behind the screen to ask if anyone knew where her obi had gone._

 _She had to stifle a gasp instead. Her protectors had also stripped off their wet, snowy clothes, but they had no dry change. Instead, they were all seated by the fire where they had hung their clothes to dry, the flickering light playing over their various forms: lean, scarred Toranosuke; Jin, with his wicked tattoos and brandings; Satoru-sensei, so slim and pale; and lastly Rikimaru, so tanned and broad. They were all huddled together looking so cold._

 _"Ya need somethin'?" Jin said._

 _"Do not speak so familiarly to her highness," Toranosuke sneered._

 _Rikimaru bowed low. "My princess, how can I help you?"_

 _Satoru-sensei adjusted his glasses as if he would like to say something, but sneezed instead. He might get sick from this chill!_

 _Yui had to do something! "Well, I'm a little cold…"_

Sakura lets the part of her brain that said this was all ridiculous fetish fuel be silent as she reads on. Innocent Princess Yui somehow turned a request for a snuggling session "for warmth" into an outright orgy without ever seeming the slightest bit tarnished by it. Jiraiya's sincere admiration for female sexuality certainly shines through every sentence of his work.

And reading about Yui getting her clit sucked by one man with another man on each breast and a fourth passionately kissing her… well, that's just hot. Sakura's face is getting quite pink, in fact. She closes the book and fans herself with it.

Kakashi is still reading _Mutual and Self-Forgiveness After Forced Bonding._

"Is that book helpful? I… don't feel that you have anything to apologize for, if that helps."

He lowers the book again. "Maybe not to apologize for, but I can't help thinking of things I could have done differently. Not just on this mission either." He closes the book and tosses it on the coffee table with other books with titles like _When You Bond With a Stranger_ and _Omega Pregnancy and Childbirth: A Guide for Alphas._ "If nothing else, some of the examples the book uses make me feel better about myself in comparison."

"Like what?"

He chuckles. "Well, there's this one couple that so far has come up several times. So, the omega in this couple—the book calls her Mai—she's a civilian, and she's in love with and engaged to another civilian, who is an alpha. They're having sex, but they've decided they want to wait to mark each other until the wedding. When their wedding is about a week away, she has a spontaneous heat. Well, she doesn't want to go through all the suffering of emergency heat suppression when the wedding is so close, especially because they want to start a family right away anyway, so instead of using the injection, she sends her fiance a message to come to her apartment immediately and why. So. He goes there as fast as he can when he gets the message. When he gets there, he can hear cries of ecstasy coming from inside. He opens the door and discovers Mai, actually in the process of being knotted. The man with her has finished, and he turns his face to look at the fiance, and for the fiance it's like looking in a mirror."

Sakura gasps. "A shinobi using a henge?"

"You got it. Someone who knew both of them very well. The fiance's cousin, in fact. The book calls him Kenji."

"Holy shit!" says Sakura. "That's terrible! How do you get over that?!"

"Apparently of the three of them, Kenji had the hardest time. Tried to kill himself several times."

She tilts her head. "Why would he have the hardest time?"

"I can understand it," he said softly, staring at the book. "For an alpha… he loves his mate, yet he knows he has irrevocably hurt his mate. That would be the hardest thing, that knowledge that _you_ hurt her…"

The way he speaks, it's obvious the words have personal import. Before she can decide how to delicately phrase the question, he supplies the answer. "In the cave, I mentioned that I was bonded before, and that she died. She died literally by my hand. She jumped in front of my Chidori. She'd been turned into a jinchuuriki to be used against Konoha. I told her that we would find a way to fix it, but…"

He trails off, partly because he doesn't know how to continue and partly because Sakura has gotten up and is ensconcing herself in his arms on the couch, and he doesn't quite know where to put his hands. They're bonded and his body, at least, wants her badly, and his mind isn't averse, but he has control of himself now and he doesn't want to push her at all; but neither does he want to reject her. The knowledge that you are the one who has hurt your mate is the hardest thing.

He settles for gingerly crossing his arms across her lower back—a sufficiently intimate, yet also not too erogenous zone—as she says, "I'm so sorry."

"I'm alright. I've had almost twenty years to grieve about it… she died before you were born, in fact."

She pulls back a bit, her face puzzled. "Before I was born… but you would have been, what, thirteen?"

"When I said very young, I wasn't kidding. It was… complicated. I'll tell you the whole story later… we should probably sleep if we want to leave at dawn." He looks over at the enormous bed, then back to Sakura. "I could sleep on the couch, if that would make you more comfortable."

She blushes. "Actually… I was wondering if…"

He gives her a moment, but she doesn't finish the sentence. "I'll do whatever you need to feel comfortable, Sakura."

"I was wondering… ifwecouldhavesex," she rushes out, then reddens further at his shocked face. "Not that we have to if you don't want it, it's just, I'm um, actually still in heat, so, my libido is um, pretty high and—"

" _Sakura._ " He stops her torrent of words. "I want it. I want _you_. Also, in a bed will be a nice change of pace."

"Could we… kiss this time?"

It's odd to have a first kiss with a girl you've already impregnated, but alright.

Without her hitai-ate holding her hair back, it tends to fall in her face. He brushes it aside and leans forward as she closes her eyes. The kiss is closed-mouth, tender, sweet. He breathes, and her scent is there, not so overpowering as it was in the cave now, and subtly changed. A metallic tinge that wasn't there before. It sends a thrill straight to his groin when he realizes that she now smells a little like himself.

 _Mine,_ some animalistic part of himself gloats. _Mine, mine, mine._

The kiss deepens. Lips open, and his tongue seeks entrance into her mouth. His eyes are closed, but hers are open, closely observing every detail as he caresses her through the nightgown. She lifts her arms and lets him lift off the nightgown, giving a little gasp as he immediately sets to licking, nibbling, and biting along her breasts while the nightgown is still entangled around her wrists.

She shakes the nightgown loose and grabs onto his shoulders, grinding her hips against his crotch, and he breaks his mouth away to say a laughing, "Oh," before latching on with renewed hunger.

"What?" she says.

"What 'what'," he says, eyes reopening in bewilderment and pausing his ministrations.

"You laughed."

"Yes?"

"Why did you laugh? What were you thinking? Was that good?"

He tilts his head, a disbelieving twitch to his lips, then laughs, and suddenly flips them over.

"Get out of your _head_ , Sakura," he growls into her ear, and it sends a cold thrill straight into her belly. "Get—out—of—your—head." He marks each roughly enunciated syllable with a pause to nip or suck at her flesh, grinding against her lower body with his pelvis. Then he straightens up to undress himself, and Sakura wriggles off her panties and tosses them aside carelessly as well.

Once he's naked, he just stands there for a moment, his one eye gazing up and down and his erection jutting out proudly. Sakura gets impatient.

 _Out of my head, huh? I'll show you, shannaro!_

She springs up and half-tackles him to the bed; half because he twists her around midair and ends up pinning her to the mattress. His one eye, usually so sleepy, is wide awake as he grabs an inner knee in each hand.

"Impatient?" he says as his cock head teases her entrance.

"Dammit, yes!" she says, and then moans, " _Yes!_ " as he gives her what she craves.

The hell with foreplay. She's so wet and he's so hard and this, _this_ is what they're both wanting, hard and fast and so so satisfying.

With her knees pressed back against her, the depth of the penetration is almost painful but that little almost-pain in the heat of their passion is merely an intensifier, drawing the most obscene moans from her mouth until he silences her with another kiss.

"Your knot, please," she begs, "I want your knot!"

He chuckles again with a nip to her neck. "We just started?"

"But I want it," she almost sobs, clutching at his body as he thrusts relentlessly. "Please, please, I need it!"

Kakashi sets an inhuman pace to meet her desire, his own pleasure stoked by her ardent need for him. Sakura is crying, but through their bond he instinctively senses that these are far from sad tears. She's already coming apart around him, and his knot is just the thing to bring her back together.

"Here it comes," he growls. "Take it."

"Ah! Kakashi! Yes!"

His cock rams into her hard one final time as his knot swells, stretching and plugging her entrance as his cum streams into her, ensuring that not one drop escapes. She grabs him and pulls him down as he lets go of her legs, hugging him tightly as she kisses him again, her orgasm ramped back up to its peak by his release.

This time she doesn't lose consciousness as she rides out the orgasm, and he savors every sweet sound and every little quiver beneath him. _This beautiful woman, my Sakura._

She sighs rapturously and opens her eyes as the tide finally ebbs as his knot softens. "That was amazing."

He kisses her shoulder, rubs his nose on her cheek, inhales at the juncture of her neck, while his leg shifts against hers contentedly.

"You're like a puppy," she giggles tiredly.

"Woof," he says agreeably, and she pushes at his shoulder playfully.

"We should sleep."

"Aa." Then, tentatively, "Like this is fine?"

"It's nice," she says after a beat. It really is… pleasant, wholesome almost. It feels safe and comforting and weirdly familiar to have his naked body snuggled up to her own. The idea of getting up to find wherever she tossed her nightgown and panties seems absurd.

He draws the duvet up over them both and aims a small precise wind jutsu at the lightswitch.

—

Sakura wakes up the next morning with one other occupant in the bed, but it isn't Kakashi.

"Good morning," says a very deep voice attached to a very small dog.

She blinks at the little pug. "Pakkun?"

"Boss left me here in case you woke up while he was gone," says Pakkun. "Hey, Sakura, since you're carrying the boss's pup, I just wanted to let you know, you can touch my soft pads whenever you want."

He holds up one little pink paw. Not wanting to offend him, Sakura awkwardly strokes it. "Where did he go?"

"Breakfast."

As if on cue, the door to the suite opens and Kakashi strolls through with two heavy bags of take-out.

"Yo, boss," says Pakkun.

"Good morning," says Sakura.

"Good morning," Kakashi sets the bags on the dining table. "Sleep well?"

"Yes… you know, you don't have to waste your chakra summoning Pakkun," she says.

Kakashi pulls a bone from a pocket and tosses it to Pakkun, who catches it in his mouth and nods his appreciation before poofing away. "Maa, it doesn't take much. I found a little stand selling Land of Ricefields style food. Do you like crullers and soymilk?"

She lets him change the subject because she _loves_ crunchy salty crullers and hot, soothing soymilk, and both are much better eaten fresh.

—

The time passes like a dream, and Kakashi can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing. It _feels_ good—really, really good—but he alternates between thinking that he's getting to know his mate in a deep and authentic way, and thinking that he's engaging in a fanciful bit of roleplaying. That he's playing at being a happily married man and that the bubble is going to burst. The disguises don't help with the latter.

At first he wasn't going to write back to anyone in Konoha, but when he told Sakura this, she gave him a Look.

"What about Guy-sensei? What about Yamato-taichou?"

"Oh. Hn."

"And Kurenai-sensei should hear it from you, come to think of it," she said, crossing a name off her list. "And Naruto, honestly, Naruto should hear from both of us, don't you think?"

"Oh. Hn."

The end result was that Tsunade had quite a stack of letters to take back to Konoha, which, she pointed out bitterly, did not at all make up for her depleted purse.

"I can't believe our honeymoon is almost over," Sakura muses aloud as she undresses one evening. "Feels like a long dream."

Kakashi isn't sure exactly how to respond. He opts for the guarded truth. "I've been thinking something similar."

"I mean, we're supposed to be getting used to each other," she says, crossing over to him and poking at his beauty mark, "but I worry that we're more getting used to being the Yamadas. I mean, I haven't even seen you with your mask on since we bonded..."

He thinks for a moment. "Do you want to shower together?"

Her lips quirk. "Heh… alright."

The shower is more business-like than she's expecting. He scrubs her hair vigorously with the full-strength shampoo, and sets at his own with just as much enthusiasm. It leaves his hair a stormy grey, and when Sakura steps out in front of the mirror after, her hair has also nearly returned to its normal candy-hue.

"How about you get dressed?" Kakashi says. "I'd like to shave."

"You want to go out again?" Sakura tilts her head. Of course, the town has an active nightlife, but they've been spending their nights in their hotel room enjoying themselves much more intimately. Though the fervor of her heat has passed, sex is still new and exciting.

Kakashi doesn't answer, already getting his face lathered up, and she shrugs and goes to dress.

 _I wonder what he wants to do… maybe dancing…?_ If that does turn out to be the case, she'll want more freedom of movement than a yukata allows. She picks a sparkly, high-necked, cap-sleeved top in her favourite brilliant red and pairs it with a swooshy black knee-length skirt.

As she admires the fullness of the skirt when she twirls, Kakashi exits the bathroom, and she turns, laughing at herself for her silliness, but the laughter dies on her lips when she sees him.

It's Hatake Kakashi, alright. Hatake Kakashi as she's always pictured him in her mind, in the bog-standard jounin uniform that he somehow wears better than anyone else, complete with flak jacket. The mask drawn up over his nose and the forehead protector down over his eye.

"Yo," he says, with a sharply raised hand. "Sorry I'm late. There was a spider in the bathroom, you see."

And it's such a _Hatake Kakashi_ excuse.

"Oh," she says, rather feebly, and then swallows and tries to bolster herself up with something clever. "I suppose you're afraid of spiders?"

"Not at all," he says, his lone eye crinkling. "It was just the spider was a very fuzzy spider and when he saw me shaving he got terribly jealous and attacked me."

She giggles despite herself. "Poor baby. Did you manage to fight him off?"

"I did, but he bit me, just here." He holds up his left pinky mournfully. "Give it to me straight, doctor. Am I going to die?"

"You ass," she laughs and closes the distance between them, taking his hand and laying a kiss on the nonexistent spider wound. "But why are you dressed like that?"

"Maa… it occurs to me that when we go back to Konoha, I'm going to look like this, and you're going to look… well, not exactly like that, but close enough. If it's going to bother either of us, then maybe we should work it here."

"Work it out… how?"

"Have sex with our clothes on," he says, and then after a beat, "or mostly. If you can resist taking mine off."

She laughs again, but her stomach flutters, and yet she's weirdly turned on too. "Well, I'll try. It'll be difficult for me, though. Not being able to…" she trails off as he suddenly sweeps her into his arms, nuzzling her neck. "...kiss you."

"It's going to be difficult for me, too, to make love to you with my mask on," he murmurs into her ear.

"R-really?" she stutters a bit, because his masked mouth is very close to hers, and it's strange. _Kakashi-sensei…_

"Really," he says, tracing a finger around her lips. "Because I also want to kiss you, and through the mask it's just not the same."

As if to prove the truth of his words, he presses his masked lips to hers. He's right, it's definitely not the same.

"And that's not the only thing," he continues softly as he pulls away from the kiss, pulling off his black t-shirt and tossing it to the side, then coming back to unzip her top. He parts the top, and he has an eye crinkle smile when he sees she's wearing a bra with a clasp in the front. "Very convenient," he says, undoing it and opening it, revealing her breasts to him.

He lowers down onto her again, rubbing his masked face over a nipple, nuzzling it.

Her breath hitches. "That's… not the same either," she says.

"Definitely not," he says, running a finger in lazy circles around the areola of the other breast, occasionally skimming it over the soft peak itself. "I love taking your breasts in my mouth, Sakura," he sighs. The sensitive skin of her breast can feel even the pills of the fabric as he continues rubbing his cheek on her. "I love tasting your skin."

"I love it too," Sakura manages to choke out.

"I can hear your heart beating, Sakura." His eye closes for a moment, and the hand on her breast stills. "Am I making you feel excited?"

"Yes," she breathes out.

The hand shifts down to lift up the skirt and skim over the thin black panties underneath. "Aroused?"

" _Yes,_ she moans, her own eyes closing.

He undoes the fastening on her skirt, and she lifts her hips to assist him as he pulls off the skirt and panties all together. Sakura's eyes reopen to see him slowly pulling them down her legs and off her feet, where he drops them on the floor at the foot of the bed. He is kneeling beside her feet now, still wearing his pants. And his mask, and the askew forehead protector. She's seen him dressed like that before. Back when he really was her sensei.

Gently, he takes a knee in each hand and spreads her legs, moving to kneel between them. Her breath is coming fast as she watches his hand move forward, and she reflexively jolts a little when it touches her thigh, though she manages to calm herself down as it moves onto her vulva itself.

"I love the way you smell, Sakura," he says huskily, and her gaze snaps off his hand to his single visible eye. "It's so hard for me not to pull this mask off and taste you, do you know that?"

His thumb is covering her entrance, as his middle and ring fingers gently start to rub her clit. "Kakashi," she whimpers.

He turns his hand and slips a single finger inside her and she clenches on it. "Oh, Sakura," he says, "every time I put a finger inside you I think to myself, _there's no way I can fit in here. She's too tight._ " The finger slides out and in and she moans again. "And yet you somehow take me perfectly… you even…" He has to pause to swallow. "You even take my _knot_ , Sakura."

When he growls out the word _knot_ , her whole body flares up with arousal. Her lips part, but no sound escapes.

A second finger joins the first, jolting the moan out of her. "Sakura!" He is moaning himself now. "Do you like my fingers inside you?"

She licks her lips, unsure if she'll be able to speak otherwise. "I love them."

"And my tongue? Do you like when my tongue fucks you, baby?"

His thumb is rubbing her clit now as the two fingers curl inside her. "Ah—both are—ah—both are g-good, but… but… oh!" Unable to continue speaking under the onslaught of sensation, she closes her eyes as she groans.

"Don't close your eyes," he growls, and she reopens them, forces herself to see his masked face and connect it to the fingers fucking her. "But? But what, Sakura?"

"Your cock," she gasps, "Your cock is even better, Kakashi!"

The hand pulls away. In the brief period that she moaned the loss, he had already pulled off his pants and underwear and positioned himself at her entrance—a definite perk of making love to a shinobi.

His face is hovering over hers as the head of his cock skids across her entrance, up to her clit and down again. "Say my name again, Sakura."

"Kakashi, Kakashi," she moans, hitching up her hips in an attempt to get him inside her. His eye crinkles as he slips the head up to her clit again, teasing it.

"And who is Kakashi to you, Sakura?" His tone is light and mocking, but he caresses her face and suddenly everything stills, and when he repeats himself it is the most serious thing in the world. "Who is Kakashi to you?"

This is it, this is what they have to face and move past. Two green eyes stare into a single grey one. "You were my genin sensei," she says slowly. "And then, you were my team captain… you saved my life many times, and you taught me many things. In particular…" She hesitates. "In particular, you saved me from, and taught me about… a certain person…" Sakura doesn't know why she can't say the fatal syllables _Sa-su-ke_ , but knows she needs to push on. "A person that I always thought I loved, but I came to realize that… it was only an infatuation with an idea… and… although neither of us planned it, or wanted it at the time… to me now, you are…"

She steadies herself with a big breath, pushing aside the yearnings of her aroused body which is attempting to distract her from staring into that deceptively sleepy onyx eye. "You are… my mate, and my husband, and my lover, and my child's father—"

Sakura falters for moment because Kakashi has taken a breath and shifted slightly, causing her body to roar its desire at her again, but he stills again and doesn't speak, and she continues, though her voice is shaking. "And… I love you, Kakashi. I truly love you—"

This time when she stops speaking with a loud gasp, it is because Kakashi's cock is fucking her, pounding into her hard and fast. "I love you, Sakura," he groans.

"Kakashi," she chokes out, clutching at his back. The wet, rapid sound of his thrusting is so obscene yet so incredibly hot.

His pace quickens, which she wouldn't have even thought possible, and his voice is cracking and straining, like nothing she's ever heard come from his lips before. "I really love you. I'm in love with you, Sakura, I'm in love with you."

Her body is shaking under him. "I love you!"

"Fuck, I can't hold back Sakura," he moans, "I'm going to knot you."

"Yes, knot me! Don't hold back! Knot me, knot me!"

He slams into her, and his arms slip under her back, pulling her so close and tight to him that she knows he is going to leave bruises, but she doesn't care, because the base of his cock is swelling within her and she's coming, coming, coming—

"Kakashi! Kakashi!" she screams brokenly. She's so incredibly full already, and she shrieks again in ecstasy as she feels his cock pulse, streaming his seed into her.

For a while there are only wordless moans, cries, whimpers and screams from both of them, until Kakashi begins panting, having finished his own orgasms. Sakura is a long way from finished, and she hears his chuckle as if from a great distance, although they are as close as they can possibly be.

"That's it, Sakura," he growls into her ear as she writhes in his grip. "Take it, take my knot, take all my cum."

He nuzzles her face as she whimpers and trembles. She wants to tell him to keep talking but she's feeling far too good to form the words.

Luckily he doesn't stop. "I wish you could see how beautiful you are when you're cumming for me like this," he says, running his fingers through her sweat-moistened hair. "Knowing I'm making you feel like that is almost better than cumming myself… almost."

When she can finally speak she says only: "Kakashi."

"Sakura," he answers.

—

And it's the morning of their last day in Tanzaku-Gai.

They putter around the room, packing their things, putting on their ninja clothes. They'll use henge to check out and leave Tanzaku-Gai at noon. Since neither of them are sensors, Tsunade told them she intended to have a sensor and a partner meet them in the outskirts to leave. In this volatile time, the Hokage doesn't want to leave two of her assets vulnerable any more than necessary.

The in-room phone rings, startling them both. Kakashi picks it up.

"Hello?"

"Good morning, Yamada-san. There's a Jizou-san here to see you," the front desk clerk says brightly.

"I don't know any Jizou-san," Kakashi says, keeping his voice relaxed. "Perhaps there's some mistake? Yamada is a common name after all."

"Ah, really? But he knew your room number and that your full name was Yamada Sohodo—here, he wants to speak with you."

"There's no mistake, Yamada-san," says a voice that is familiar and yet he cannot immediately place it. If only the sharingan's exact memory feature included audio. "You may have forgotten me, I know I certainly didn't expect to encounter you and your lovely bride in Tanzaku-Gai, but I merely wish to pay… my respects. Perhaps I can treat you to breakfast?"

Sakura forms a Konoha hand sign at him urgently. _Who?_

 _I don't know,_ he signs back. "Jizou-san, you said?"

"Jizou Nyorai," the voice said pleasantly, "in the same sense as your own."

Now Kakashi was wide awake and his mind running rapidly through the connections. _Yamada no Sohodo_ was another name for the mountain god who was a _scarecrow_ , or "Kakashi;" so his pseudonym was a deity version of his own name. Jizou Bosatsu, the patron of children, especially those in hell… associated with relief from temporal ills… and Nyorai, associated with…

"Yakushi," he says into the phone. _The medicine giver._

Sakura mouths, "Kabuto?" in horror, and Kakashi nods.


	20. Chapter 20

The hotel lobby is nearly empty when Kakashi and Sakura come down. A young man dressed like a doctor with white coat and case appraises them and smiles.

"Are you hungry?" he says. "I meant the offer about a meal. Sharing food makes things friendlier, don't you agree?"

"I think it would be better for the people of Tanzaku-Gai if we had our discussion outside its borders," Sakura says.

The man shrugs. "As you like. Though I assure you, I mean only to talk."

The rest of their team isn't supposed to meet them for another three hours, but Kakashi leads them towards the rendezvous point anyway. If the team is early or if they sense the chakra signals of a fight, maybe they'll make it in time to assist.

Outside of the city, Kabuto's henge puffs away. He still has one wicked serpentine eye, and his old trademark glasses are gone. The strange scaley texture that used to be only on one side of his body is less pronounced, yet seems to have spread over all his visible skin. Not that there is much of it; a hooded cloak obscures his hair and most of his body. A long silver mustache brackets his smiling mouth.

"Well?" he says. "Won't you do likewise?"

"This is an ordinary disguise," Kakashi says. "It doesn't come off."

"How old-fashioned!" Kabuto exclaims, and laughs more loudly than the comment deserves. Sharp fangs glint in his mouth.

"You want to talk?" Sakura cuts in. "What about?"

Kabuto looks at her more fully. "You've come up a long way in the world since we last saw each other, haven't you, Sakura. In some ways you're even more impressive than I am, I'm not too proud to admit it. I was scouted for my talent in childhood, after all, even if I've proven myself far more than any of them expected. Whereas you..." He turns back to Kakashi and laughs. "Well, Kakashi-sensei, you remember, don't you? In the chuunin exams, it couldn't be more obvious how little you thought of her."

"What's your point, Kabuto?" Kakashi tries not to be distracted down well-trodden pathways of self-accusation. "You want to buy information? Sell it? Or services?"

"I just want to talk, like we're doing right now! Is that so hard to believe?"

Kakashi and Sakura look at each other.

Kabuto sighs. "I suppose that's reasonable enough. I'll have to offer up free information in advance to assure you of my pure intentions. I still have intelligence channels in all the major nations and most of the minor ones. I learned about the little ambush that was planned against you in Earth. It caused quite a stink when you left no survivors, by the way. Iwa wasn't sure how or in what condition the two of you got away. Even my Konoha sources didn't know anything. So I thought I'd nose around the Fire border and see what information I could glean for myself. Coming upon the two of you, together, alone... was not what I expected at all."

"You mean Iwa set the ambush for us specifically?"

"Yes, you see, now that Rain's God has died, the Angel can't hope to command the same level of control over her city. I'm sure Iwa got all the same details I did about your little humanitarian voyage... you weren't exactly discreet, were you?"

"But why would I need to be discreet?" Sakura asks, bewildered. "It _was_ a humanitarian mission."

"A best friend of the Nine Tails and protege of the Fifth Hokage? More than one border away from home, with only one ninja as guard, even if that ninja is an S rank? It practically begged for a hostage taking... at least, that is what _they_ thought. I had a hunch when I heard that it was just a team of two. Then that team of two leaves no survivors, from an entire Iwa battalion? They thought they were sending overkill. From what I hear, they're still theorizing that you must have had back-up... but I had another theory from the beginning." He smiles at Sakura and raises his staff in a kind of salute. "You're a sage."

Sakura had a feeling this was where he was leading as he spoke, so she is ready with a hunch of her own: "Like you are, you mean?"

"Mm, cagey." Kabuto lowers the staff back down. "You still want more free information? It seems I'm always helping you and your friends, Sakura... do you remember my ninja info cards?"

A pang twists in her chest at the reminder of those difficult days, the proudest and worst moments of her genin career. She pursues the present situation. "You're a snake sage?"

"Not a snake," Kabuto says. "A _dragon._ "

With a flourish, he slips down the hood. Horns swoop back close along his head, and indeed, they look very draconian. Without the hood shading his face, his skin is strangely luminescent.

"Learned some points about style from Orochimaru?" Kakashi cuts in.

Kabuto lets out a sort of choked, reflexive hiss as he turns back towards Kakashi. " _I_ have done what _he_ never could."

"You were always so devoted to him," Kakashi replies, his voice treading the line between calm and patronizing. "It's good if you've moved on at last..."

"Moved on?" Kabuto puts his hood back up, huffing. "Orochimaru-sama-I will always think of him that way-had a unique gift for offering talented people a pretense at meaning. His death left me utterly rudderless, I admit. I originally simply wanted a puerile revenge against Sasuke, but as I wrestled with the White Snake Sage's venoms and tasks in the Cave, I realized that Orochimaru-sama only ever offered me a false purpose. I bear no particular malice against Sasuke now. By the way, is it true that he tried to kill you, Sakura?"

Sakura swallows, then squares her shoulders. "That's a matter for Konoha shinobi."

Kabuto chuckles. "You know, Sakura, I think you had much better speak to me plainly. I'm far better at diplomatic double talk and espionage than you. I'm getting all the answers I want either way, believe me. I can read every twitch of your finger and every pulse of your skin. I don't mean to insult you, you're certainly far improved over the genin who lacked even academy level emotional control. But please, no more attempts at subterfuge. You are a sage, and I am a sage—can we not learn from each other?"

"Learn from each other? You only care about power."

"No, Sakura. That is why most of those who seek to become a snake sage fail. After Orochimaru-sama's death, and after absorbing his remains and making the journey to the Cave, I was open to everything. More importantly, I was open to _nothing_. And the White Snake Sage taught me that nothing. I have always been nothing, and hated it. I have tried desperately to escape it. Now... now I embrace it. Nothingness and destruction are what our mutual enemies are attacking, and that is where we can be allies."

"Our mutual enemies?" Kakashi cuts in.

Kabuto continues to look at Sakura. "The Uchiha. I always hated Sasuke... now I know just how deep is the enmity between me and his cursed clan. They want to freeze the entire world—to plunge it into a perpetually unchanging and illusionary existence. It's abhorrent! You, who are a sage of creation, must agree with me on this?"

"Agree with you to kill Sasuke?" Sakura spits back. "Seems like you're not as over him as you claim."

He grins. "Oh? Perhaps we have that in common then, since I heard you also tried to kill him."

"I don't know what you heard, but I never went through with the attempt. I was wrong to ever think I could," Sakura insists, half to remind herself. "I believe in Naruto."

"The Toad Sage." He scowls. "You need to ally yourself with me instead, before it's too late. I can see it happening... the Toad Sage is the sage of preservation, after all, and Toad senjutsu is naturally powerful against Slug senjutsu. He will join the Uchiha and he will destroy you."

"Naruto would never betray me!"

"He won't think of it as betrayal. Those Uchiha are all so well-spoken, you know... Naruto, one will say, wouldn't you rather live with your dear Sakura-chan forever in a world—"

 _Speak of the devil_ comes true yet again as out of nowhere a black sandal rams into Kabuto's chin with such speed and power that a civilian's head would have surely exploded. Kabuto, however, is far from a civilian; though the kick clearly caught him off guard, he twirls his staff and his body to turn the power of his attacker's blow against the opponent. But this opponent is no pushover either. The newcomer's flame trimmed cloak billows as he shrugs off Kabuto's counterattack and merely lands in a low squat, narrowing his toadlike eyes at his enemy.

"What's this bastard doing here dattebayo?!" Naruto demands. Without taking his eyes off Kabuto, he adds, "Are you alright Sakura-chan? Kaka-sensei?"

"I thought heroes always arrive late, Naruto," Kakashi says dryly as Kabuto warily rubs his chin. "I'm not exactly sure why you're here at all."

"Well... escort -ttebayo!" He blinks slowly, looking more frog-like than ever, as none of the other three takes a stance. "...aren't we fighting?"

"I'm not going to fight a battle that is so obviously not to my advantage," snaps Kabuto. He appears to have activated some form of nature energy himself, as his horns are noticeably larger, his eyes more serpentine, his skin more brilliant. "How many times do I have to repeat that I just want to talk? Will I have to repeat it three more times for your companions coming to join us?"

Sakura tries to sense, but gets nothing. Kakashi, through longer experience and deep familiarity with the chakra signature of one, catches the far-off chakra of Yamato and two companions rapidly approaching.

"How did you know to come here, Naruto?" Kakashi says.

"Sent a toad to scout, got the word that you'd gone off with some weirdo. All I needed to hear."

"I see. And the others...?" Kakashi prods.

"Uh..." Naruto's tongue flicks out in a nervous gesture. "Didn't ask..."

"Yamato and...?"

"Oh! Sai and... um..." He looks at Kabuto and back at Kakashi. "His um... good buddy?"

Kabuto sighs. "Oh Naruto. You still haven't managed even the most basic principles of passing on coded information?"

Sakura flashes back to the Chuunin Exams again. Kabuto's generous, friendly concern for Naruto's foolishness.

Kakashi doesn't outwardly react, but he is rapidly running through the possible outcomes of Kabuto learning that Shisui is alive. All of them are bad.

"I think this talk is over," Kakashi says, pulling off his disguise's eyepatch. He intends only to warn Kabuto off, but Sakura takes his gesture as a more direct indicator of an imminent fight, because she shifts into Sage Mode and charges.

Kabuto doesn't react as a person should who is facing imminent death at Sakura's fists. Instead, his gaze is more that of fawning admiration before he shimmers out of existence just before Sakura's chakra-sucking strike turns a five metre radius around his previous position into sterile dust.

"Wait, Sakura!" Kakashi calls. With his Sharingan open, he was only just able to follow Kabuto's earth jutsu movement into the ground and out. "He's behind you, but we don't need to fight-you either, Naruto!"

Naruto lets the rasen-shuriken in his palm dissipate with another disappointed tongue flick.

"Indeed, please not," Kabuto says, his eyes stretched inhumanly wide with his excitement. "Although I thank you for giving me a taste of what you can do. Magnificent. Perfectly complementary to my jutsu."

Yamato and the rest increased their speed as everyone's chakra spiked during the brief fight, and they land in the seemingly peaceful area in a basic ANBU defensive formation. Sai and Shisui are both wearing their masks—monkey for Sai, otter for Shisui. Kakashi glances over at Kabuto. Clearly, the enemy ninja is most interested in Shisui, but it's hard to tell if he identifies him.

Sakura's Sage Mode aura fades back into her body, but she looks revitalized, rather than worn out. The chakra inhale refilled her depleted yin seal.

"Well, then I _will_ say it three more times for the new audience. I just want to talk, I just want to talk, I _just want to talk._ " Kabuto emphasizes each repetition with a bang of his staff on the ground.

"There's more nothing to speak about," Kakashi says quickly, since Naruto looks like he might be about to burst into some doubtless ill-advised speech. "Our thanks for the information about Earth, but you must think us foolish if you think we intend to give you any information in return. You leave your way, and we leave ours."

"Are you injured, sempai? If you're wounded, you should clean it."

Unlike Naruto, Yamato knows how to speak in code. In conjunction with some gestures, he's suggesting to Kakashi that they attack with the advantage. Unfortunately, apparently Kabuto recognizes the ANBU code, because he takes a stance with his staff while forming one-handed seals.

"You don't remember I was one of you?" sneers Kabuto. "Shall I even the odds? Six against one is hardly a fair fight."

In a throwback again to the horrible events of the Chuunin Exams, he rapidly summons two coffins. They burst open, and from them walks forward two men, one whose long black hair is smooth and tied back, one whose long black hair is wild and free.

"Ita—" Shisui isn't quite able to stop himself.

Itachi's cracked face with its dark doll-eyes stares at Shisui's mask. "He... got you too?"

" _Who_ too?" Kabuto quickly reins in Itachi's free will under the Edo Tensei jutsu. "Tell me."

"That is the mask and voice of my cousin," Itachi answers tonelessly. "Uchiha Shisui."

Kabuto whistles. "Shunshin no Shisui. What a legendary group of Uchiha we have gathered here... and yet the most legendary of them all doesn't seem to have even been recognized." A smug grin spreads across his face. "Go ahead and talk, I can tell it's burning you up inside."

"You will die in tremendous agony," the wild-haired man spits out with intense dislike.

"Oh come now," Kabuto jeers, "you have nothing to say to the loyal supporters of the village you founded and the last remnants of your clan?"

Shisui pulls off his mask. He has eyes, now, although neither Kakashi nor Sakura knows where they came from. "You're claiming this is Madara? Isn't Madara the one behind Nozomi?"

"Really, you think that a man as old as he would be could be the Madara _you've_ met? No, you've just met pale imitations; I've got the original. Usually he has a lot to say, but apparently not to you. Oh well." He reins in the man's will with a flourish, turning him to an impassive mannequin like Itachi.

The resemblance of the motionless man before them to the statue at the Valley of the End is strong, but that doesn't prove anything. "The man who told us he was Madara had the Mangekyou Sharingan, a very rare eye that only a few Uchiha have ever had," Kakashi points out. "If what you're saying is true, then who is the False Madara, the one who used to go by Tobi?"

"Masks and disguises are essential tools to shinobi, aren't they?" Kabuto non-answers. "You, Hatake Kakashi, use them to be more than one person. But more than one person can also use a single disguise to be one identity, right?"

"Don't dodge the question," Shisui injects. "Who are you suggesting is pretending to be Madara? Another Uchiha?"

"Of course they are Uchiha," Kabuto says, and his scowl really does seem to express sincere contempt. "You Uchiha really are something else."

Naruto blows out his frustration in a huff, leaning precariously far forward in his odd squat. "What's your deal, Kabuto? You're as obsessed with Uchiha as that snake bastard ever was!"

"He's acting as if his purpose is to recruit us, or maybe just me, to fight against the Uchiha," Sakura says. "He wants me to join him against Sasuke."

"Ha!" Naruto surges out of his squat and rocks on his heels with his arms crossed. "Sakura-chan will _never_ betray Team 7 dattebayo!"

"The betrayal has already happened," says Kabuto. With another twist of his hands, the two Uchiha return to their coffins which sink back into scrolls. "Or rather, her loyalty ought never to have been there in the first place. Listen to me, Sakura. The village hidden in the Leaves... when a forest is rotted through and infested with parasites and diseases, what does nature do? Razes it down. It's all rotten, all through, Sakura. What were you ever to Team 7 but the weakest link, the useless flower, the clanless nothing, the disposable decoy? There is nothing you've achieved through them. I admit that your Hokage has perceived your worth better, but only because of her slug affinity, not the hypocritical Will of Fire. You have no real bonds to them, you just don't realize it yet."

Naruto roars, "That's not true! We love Sakura-chan! And she knows it!"

Sakura says nothing, and Kabuto smirks, sliding the scrolls into his sleeves. "Shall I show how long and how deep the Uchiha corruption in Konoha goes, Sakura? There have been at least two more Uchiha who wore the mask of Madara, and I'll tell you their other names. Ask your Kakashi who is Obito, and ask your Shisui who is Kagami! And remember, Sakura, that there can be no creation without destruction. When you are ready, I am more than capable of inflicting the destruction you require."

Kabuto grins, and the grin widens, or rather the face distorts until the entire body, also, melts and crumbles and writhes, reforms, erupts wings, and takes off into the sky.

"Holy shit -ttebayo," Naruto marvels, dropping Sage Mode as Kabuto becomes a tiny dot on the horizon.

"It was an impressive exit," Kakashi agrees, feeling emboldened by Kabuto's embarrassingly obvious bluff. Trying to rattle Kakashi by naming _Obito_ , of all people? He turns to Shisui. "Don't be put off by the mention of your father. He must have heard somehow through his contacts that the eyes taken from the 'Tobi' corpse in Rain were your father's, and it's well-known about my eye being Obito's. He's just trying to rattle us. I don't know if you remember Obito, but he was my teammate under Minato-sensei. The way he died—it's impossible for him to be involved. I don't know how Kabuto knew who he was and yet didn't know that."

"Of course I remember Obito-nii-san," Shisui says, staring at the spot where Itachi had been. "He wasn't that much older than I was. I remember that the body never came home. Neither did my father's."

Kakashi looks at Sai, then back at Shisui. "But it's not possible. Obito's body was half-crushed already, and the entire cave collapsed after. It's impossible that he could have survived it."

"So he wasn't dead when you last saw him? If you don't find the body, can you really be sure he died?" Shisui says.

An old and familiar accusation rears itself up: _you left Obito to die alone._ And now it twists: _you left him to die alone,_ ** _and he didn't die._**

 _No. No._ "I tell you it's not possible."

"He was alive?" Shisui pursues.

"It isn't possible! He couldn't possibly survive it. And even if Obito _did_ survive... he was a loyal Konoha shinobi. The whole reason he died was because he wouldn't abandon a teammate! He had dreams..."

Kakashi's distress is radiating off of him, and instinctually Sakura wants to settle him, yet she is feeling distinctly unsettled herself. Teams, and teammates left behind, Uchihas with dreams, Kabuto and betrayals and secrets... it's all sending her back to a time in her life when she was small and helpless and overwhelmed, and she's coping with it now by being numb.

"I don't want to believe it about my father either... he was also a loyal shinobi, my model and my hero... he had a son and a pregnant wife when he never came home... but he was different in the months before that mission... I know now that he changed because my uncle, Uchiha Fugaku, had agreed to hand over my unborn younger sibling to Root in exchange for protection for his own children." Shisui looks at Sai. "Which is exactly what ended up happening without my father around to protect him."

"We should not be discussing these things in the open," Sai responds, with a placating tone. "We should report to Hokage-sama. By the way, Kakashi... let me pull you aside briefly."

Kakashi blinks, feeling the stares of the others as the two step a very short distance away, not nearly far enough to keep them from hearing Sai's stage whisper.

"I can give you tips on your disguise when we get back to Konoha," Sai whispers loudly from behind the monkey mask. "The mole is not a good look at all. Far too obvious."

"I see..."

"I'm pulling you aside because I read in a book that you could criticize people's appearance only privately," Sai adds, clearly proud of himself at having mastered another aspect of social interaction. "Although I am not sure if that includes disguises, which is a professional matter?"

"I think doing things in private is generally the safer choice for criticism, if one is not sure," Kakashi says.

Sai pulls out a notebook and makes a note. "Thank you. You are being very helpful to me."

There was no further talk about the situation between them all as they sped back towards Konoha, though everyone's minds were swirling with questions.

—

"Sakura," Kakashi calls as they come within a few minutes of Konoha. "Who do you want to see first?"

Sakura blinks herself out of her meditative run. She had been far back in her mind, thinking about Kabuto at the exams and trying to puzzle out some of his still unexplained actions from back then, as if perhaps they could offer a clue to his current motivations. Why had he taken that blow for Naruto in the Forest of Death? Why had he healed Hinata? "Uh... you want me to choose?"

"For me, there's pretty much only Guy," he explains, "and I'd rather he not be the very first. He'll probably want to do a congratulatory challenge."

"Then... I suppose my parents, after we report of course..."

They have pulled a little behind the others for privacy, but Naruto interrupts with all the subtlety and good nature of a herding dog.

"Hey! You two tired? Need a rest? A drink? A snack? A soldier pill? I don't got any but you could wait here and I could run to Konoha and I could get you a soldier pill. Or I could bring Granny Tsunade dattebayo!"

Sakura sighs and picks up her pace. "No, Naruto, he was just asking me a question, but it's nothing that can't wait until after our report."

Izumo and Kotetsu wave them through with smiles. As they dart across the academy roof, Iruka-sensei sticks his head out the window and waves, followed shortly by a crowd of children screaming at Naruto the hero, who beams and immediately doubles back.

"Naruto!" Yamato hisses from behind the cat mask. "Hokage-sama is _awaiting our report."_

"Just a few high fives?" Naruto pouts, already in the process of giving them.

"Come back inside!" Iruka says, and Naruto sighs.

"Well! Sorry kids! Ya gotta listen to Iruka-sensei, just like I always did -ttebayo!"

This little interruption provides an opening for another.

"My eternal rival!"

The cry thunders across the rooftops of Konoha. The children, who only a moment ago Iruka had been ineffectually cajoling to return to class, yank their heads back inside like frightened rodents disappearing into holes. A shiny green dot on the horizon rapidly enlarges: the approach of the Leaf's Beautiful Jade Beast, Might Guy.

"Guy," says Kakashi with a wave.

Guy seems unable to decide between giving a cool thumbs up, smacking his rival's manly shoulder, or embracing him with the warmth of youth. His arms undulate in indecision and his eyes quiver with tears. "My rival!" He repeats. "How I congratulate you...!"

Kakashi sticks out his hand and catches one of Guy's hands in a firm handshake. "Thank you, Guy."

Having received a physical outlet for his tremendous feelings, Guy grips Kakashi's hand with such intensity that tears form in Kakashi's eyes as well. "You have been given a second chance at a bright, bright romance! How much you deserve it. Sakura!" He beckons to her with his free hand. "A flower of spring to bloom upon a scarecrow! Now that's the youthful force of nature!"

Sakura approaches with caution but Guy reaches out and yanks her in for a double handshake the moment she's within his range. He shakes both their hands vigorously for a moment, then decisively joins their hands together and strikes one of his trademark vogue poses. "The mating call of spring—yosh! Instinct wins! Bowl me over with your fresh romance, yeah!"

Sakura isn't sure whether to laugh, cringe with embarrassment, or be touched. Kakashi scratches at his hair with his free hand, trying to ignore Naruto's openly appalled expression at this extremely mild PDA. Sai, Yamato, and Shisui's ANBU masks give away nothing.

Naruto will not be ignored. "Let go of Sakura-chan! You can't grope her in public like that!"

"Naruto!" Sakura's cheeks flush. "He's just holding my hand! As if you're not far more shameless with Hinata-chan!"

Naruto grins sheepishly. "Oh, yeah... well, still! It's just weird! You and Kaka-sensei...!"

Guy comes unhelpfully to the rescue with a knowing chuckle. "This is irresistible passion, my young friend!" He twists his body into another pose, this time a double point at Naruto. "Oh yeah!"

"But we _do_ need to report to Hokage-sama," Yamato interjects, and both Sakura and Kakashi drop hands gratefully at the excuse.

"Alright," Guy calls after them, "but find me the very instant you are free, Kakashi! I must generously give you a chance to improve your record in our Legendary Challenges!"

—

Tsunade tilts her sake cup and watches the drops slowly trickle down the interior back and forth as Kakashi recites the clash with Kabuto. "Anything the rest of you would add?"

"I respectfully disagree with Kakashi-san's conclusion," Shisui says. "I don't know what happened to Obito-nii-san. But ever since I read Danzo's records about my father, I've had this... sinking feeling in my stomach... that something wasn't right. Even though I don't want to believe it."

"Your father was like an uncle to me," Tsunade muses. "Of course, this all happened right around the time I... when I... wasn't available. But I don't want to even contemplate that he could have betrayed Konoha."

Shisui twiddles with his otter mask with a humourless smile. "Betraying Konoha I could believe, even forgive. It's betraying _me_ , abandoning my mother, giving up on saving my baby brother from Danzo... that's what I don't want to believe, because if it is true, I don't know if I could forgive it."

Tsunade downs another shot of sake and grimace-shudders more than her alcohol tolerance would require. "It needs more going into. Danzo himself believed that Kagami was dead. And he was hardly the sort of man who leaves things half done."

"But he also said that he was glad he didn't have to do it himself, Hokage-sama. That leaves open the possibility of a fake death, perhaps with an accomplice."

Tsunade huffs. "I said it needs more going into. We have a more immediate matter. I told the council that this was an act of war, but I allowed myself to be persuaded that a misunderstanding was possible, and so we asked Iwa for an explanation. It's been a few days, and the only answer we've received is that they are 'investigating the matter.' What bollocks. I thought this sounded like a deliberate ambush from the beginning. All we've done is given them time to prepare for war."

The Hokage tips the bottle of sake to refill her cup, but it's empty. She opens a drawer, peers at its emptiness for a moment, then suddenly pitches the empty sake bottle where it smashes into a fuinjutsu seal on the door, shattering the sound-proofing and leaving a dent in the door for good measure. "Shizune!"

The door opens, and Shizune pokes her head in. "Yes, Tsunade-sama?"

"This drawer is _empty._ "

Tonton oinks nervously at Shizune's feet. "Yes, Tsunade-sama."

"Don't say _yes_! Where is my sake? No, never mind where," Tsunade says, rubbing at her temples. "Go and replace it, now. I have war to declare and I will need it."

Tonton squeals and leaps up into Shizune's arms. Shizune bows and her head disappears.

Tsunade swears again. "No, Shizune, wait!"

The brunette head pokes back in cautiously.

"Get the hawks ready. We're going to be sending a lot of copies. No codes. This will not be a secret." Tsunade stands up. "And have all the council summoned here. Immediately, no excuses. _Then,_ get me sake. Kakashi, since you're _already here_ , you can't be late." She points him to a seat. "The rest of you are free to go. Sakura, your seal looks alright. How's your chakra?"

"It's good."

"Good, then you can take over for the remainder of my shift at the hospital. At least two surgeries scheduled. Come and see me at 22:00, if you get off on time."

—

"Forehead!"

Sakura nearly spills the water she was pouring as she turns to see Ino, her Interrogation Squad cloak billowing behind her in the wake of having swung open the door to the hospital break room. "Oh, hello Ino."

"'Oh, hello"?! Don't waste words on _oh hello_ when I want to hear _every damn detail_ ," Ino practically squeals. "I have been _dying_. I heard from Shikamaru that he assisted you with a surgery today. How dare you be doing surgeries for some people who don't matter when your best friend is dying from lack of details."

"Details?" Sakura looks around the break room and over Ino's shoulder to the door, still ajar. "...what kind of details?"

"The _big_ details." Ino waggles her eyebrows significantly, and then after a beat, "Maybe starting with how big a detail."

"Ino! I can't tell you all about that!"

"C'mon, why not? I've told you everything you've wanted to know, haven't I?"

This was true. "Well! Anyone could walk in, staff always come here for breaks..."

"But you _are_ going to tell me, right? When do you get off, anyway? Can't believe Hokage-sama put you straight to work... I mean I know we're, like, _at war_ , but still... well, if you can't tell me here, then I'll come to your apartment tonight with booze and... oh." Ino leans back.

"What?"

"Well... you won't be living in your apartment anymore right... that's gonna be _weird_. Because you're _married._ No more crashing at your place when I don't want to deal with my folks. No more telling my folks I'm crashing at your place when I'm actually with somebody that's none of their business. Damn. This is really gonna cramp my style. _"_

"I apologize for the inconvenience." Sakura rolls her eyes.

Ino clucks. "Well! But it is weird!"

It _is_ weird. Sakura feels a strange grief in her gut. Everything seemed so simple and idyllic back in Tanzaku Gai, the opening up of a sweeping romance. There seemed nothing valuable in her previous single existence. Ino climbing through her window with take-out and telling Sakura the latest gossip while getting grease spots on her borrowed pajamas... that was really mundane, so why did it truly feel like a loss? Oh. And she would need to talk to the landlady about terminating the lease...

"Kakashi-sensei must have a pretty nice place, right?"

"I... don't know where he's been living since Pain's attack."

"Oh."

Sakura refocuses on Ino, who has a worried expression on her face.

Ino fidgets with her eye-shielding bang and says, encouragingly, "Hey, maybe you guys can choose a new place together? Plenty of empty houses in the clan districts. Get some place with space for the baby. Oh, I hope the baby gets your pink hair! That will be so cute!"

Sakura smiles reflexively, even though the lists of tasks in the back of her head is growing at an alarming rate: _terminate lease? new place? mortgage? commuting distance? war? baby? last will and testament? furniture?_

"Sakura-sensei, excuse me," a nurse says with a sharp rap against the doorframe, "the lab test you asked for is in and positive."

Ino waves aside any need for farewell as Sakura stands and follows the nurse.

—

Kakashi jerks awake in the corner of the Hokage's office as Sakura closes the door behind her. He's back in his usual uniform and mask, and a long shower with a hair-colour removing shampoo has almost restored his spiky locks to their famous silver.

"Not as late as I feared," Tsunade says, glancing at the clock. "I'm glad to see your new husband hasn't influenced you in that department."

Sakura smiles weakly at the joke.

"I'm sure you're tired after the shift, and I won't keep you long," Tsunade continues, "but I just wanted to give you a chance to say goodbye to Kakashi before he leaves on his mission to Lightning. We need to try to secure them as allies if we can, or at least keep their neutrality."

"Is... a medic nin going on the team?" Sakura asks.

"Shikamaru. And before you ask, you can't be swapped in. I need you here." The Hokage stands up, and turns deliberately to the picture windows. With the lights on in the Hokage office and the village mostly asleep, it's not much of a view.

It takes Sakura a moment to realize that this is Tsunade's attempt at giving them privacy.

She and Kakashi stand in silence for a moment.

They look at each other with tired eyes.

Slowly, almost like a movement of dealing with a wild animal, Kakashi extends his hand, the one with the mark just peeking out through the fingerless glove.

More naturally, Sakura extends her hand as well, and he caresses the wrist with his thumb.

"I'll be back soon," he says.

"Be safe," she says.

They let go at the same time, and after another moment, Kakashi clears his throat.

Tsunade turns back around. "Report to Shizune for orders at 9:00."

"Hai." Sakura bows and leaves through the door.

Kakashi walks to the windows and pushes one open.

"Don't take too long at the Stone," Tsunade warns. "They're already waiting for you. Safe mission."

Kakashi bows humbly as well and darts across the quiet town towards the Memorial Stone.

The field is dark and lit only by the moon and stars but Kakashi knows exactly where the particular names he's looking for are.

He runs the same thumb over them: _Hatake Rin. Uchiha Obito._

"I know it can't be true," he says aloud. "I know it isn't. But both of you are... no, my failures with regards to both of you have been the biggest source of guilt in my life. I've drained every bitter drop of that well. And so when I find another way to feel guilt about it all... I can't help but want to punish myself again.

"But I can't let myself be rattled. I have more precious people to protect. I remember both of your smiling faces... and I know that I have to go forward. It's what you would tell me to do, and I'm listening."

Kakashi steps back, claps his hands together, and bows.

"Thank you for watching over me up until now. I will do my best."

"Finally," Anko greets him rudely when he strolls up to the gate. "What was the hold up this time? Conjugal debts?"

"You could say it was a debt repayment," Kakashi agrees with a congenial eye smile. "Interest rates are so high, one never makes a dent in the principle."

"Can we get going," Shikamaru huffs, shifting his pack. "It's such a drag, but I'd rather not be going to Lightning at all, so I want to get it over with."

Anko clucks. "Inexperienced little fawn. Political missions aren't like that. Getting there faster doesn't finish them sooner—or back to your little sand princess sooner."

"Yamanaka Santa at the front," Kakashi says mildly, ignoring Anko's leer. "Mitarashi Anko at the left and Nara Shikamaru at the right. I'll bring up the rear, if you all promise not to leave me behind. Understood?"

"Hai!" they chorus.

"Team Kakashi, start!"


End file.
